New Delhi: HP has become the first company to preview hardware to be built with Google Beam, the 3D video communication technology formerly known as Project Starline. It’s launching the HP Dimension, a device that features a 65-inch light field display with six high-speed cameras inside the bezel to create a true-to-life 3D video of user calls.
Google first announced the rebrand of Project Starline last month. At the time, Google announced that it would allow third-party manufacturers, starting with HP, to use its design framework to build devices with Beam. The HP Dimension is meant for the enterprise use. This will cost the users around $24,999, and that doesn’t even include the software needed to hold video calls, as users will need to purchase a Google Beam license separately to gain access to Zoom or Google Meet.
As my colleague Alex Health pointed out in a demo of Google Beam, users don’t need a headset, glasses, or any special equipment to see a colleague as if they’re in the same room. Beau Wilder, HP’s head of future customer experiences, said users don’t need a special room either, but having a white background is best for an optimal experience.
We’re not trying to put a caricature in a small box across the table from the user said Wilder. We want the users to walk into the room and instantly make eye contact without even thinking about it. HP Dimension users will still be able to hold calls with people from other video conferencing platforms and devices. Still, their colleagues won’t be able to see their images projected in 3D, and vice versa. Along with the series of built-in cameras, the HP Dimension features adaptive lighting that adjusts to the environment, allowing users to see realistic shadows on facial features and natural skin tones.
The HP Dimension pairs its light field display with spatial audio that Wilder said never separates the voice from the body. It comes with HP’s new Poly Studio A2 table mics, as well as four speakers located behind it, curved, acoustically transparent mid-wall for a direct path to the ears.
Google Beam, as manifested on the HP Dimension, is designed to make you feel like you’re there, Andrew Nartker, general manager of Google Beam, said during the briefing. You think as if you’re right there at the table, working together. It’s all meant to bring us together and ultimately make us feel completely physically present.
The HP Dimension will launch in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan later this year. Companies such as Salesforce, Deloitte, and NEC Corporation have already committed to integrating Google Beam into their offices.
