Google Beam: Future of Communication (beam.google)

Google today unveiled Google Beam (formerly Project Starline), an AI-first, life‑sized 3D video communication platform designed to make remote conversations feel like in‑person meetings. Building on years of research, Beam uses Google’s advances in AI, 3D imaging and light‑field rendering to recreate depth, facial detail and subtle nonverbal cues without headsets or complex setup. The company is positioning Beam as an enterprise product, partnering with HP to deliver the HP Dimension device and naming early adopters such as Deloitte, Salesforce, Citadel, NEC, Duolingo and several healthcare and recruiting firms. The announcement is significant because it shifts telepresence from flat video and avatars toward true‑to‑life, spatially accurate interactions that can increase attentiveness, reduce meeting fatigue, and improve collaboration in contexts where nuance matters (e.g., client meetings, healthcare, and training). Technically, Beam packages compute‑intensive pipelines—3D capture, depth reconstruction, light‑field rendering and AI enhancements—into a managed device and service, implying higher hardware and connectivity requirements and an initial enterprise rollout. Google emphasizes availability and early access for organizations now, noting visuals are illustrative and the product may evolve across regions and specifications.