2 HN users recommended this demo2 months2021–2024score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026
HN mostly uses it as a reference point for how much better video calls could get, with some skepticism about what the demo leaves out.
Google's short promo for Project Starline, a booth that shows a life-size, three-dimensional view of the person you are talking to. It presents the technology as a magic window for friends, families and co-workers who are far apart.
“No headset to wear. No disorientation. You just sit down and you're there with somebody else.” (HN, 2023)
We might just not know what we are missing. I used to think that video calls is a solved problem until I saw Google's Project Starline [0]. Video calls in AR could be vastly better, not just a little bit, but basically a completely different experience/relationship. [0] [this video]
Starline suggests video calls could become a completely different experience.
I think the most promising Metaverse technology might be something like Starline [1]. No headset to wear. No disorientation. You just sit down and you're there with somebody else. [1] [this video]
Headset-free, you just sit down and feel present with someone.
WFH vs No WFH vs Hybrid WFH has become the new emacs vs vi vs vscode (order not important), but I wonder if it will all go away when projects like [this video] become as available as a web browser
Speculates such tech could end the work-from-home debate.
This is true of games, but not other applications. You need photorealism to have immersive video calls -- as if you are meeting in person. Here is a tech demo by Google; see how users respond to the realism: [this video] So we do need more immersive technology; just maybe not for games.
Tech demo showing user reactions to photorealistic calls.
If you watch the video of it: [this video] Interesting thing to note is that they don't show the participants touching the glass pane 'separating' them, whereas for that kind of situation it would be very very natural thing to do. I guess doing so (reaching towards the 'glass pane') would make the imagery distort/degrade real fast as you would start going out of camera's FoV, which that would break the magic.
Notes the demo conspicuously avoids showing participants touching the glass.
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