Google’s next-generation video chat technology is ready for the real world

Good news for everyone who’s tired of Zoom calls but also hates talking to people in real life: Google’s Project Starline is becoming more widely available.

Google introduced Starline in 2021 with the goal of making video calls less weird and awkward. It’s essentially a very complicated video conferencing booth that uses cameras, depth sensors, and three-dimensional imagery to approximate face-to-face conversations between two distant participants. A number of cameras even track the eye movements of both participants and adjust the view of the other side so the two people can make eye contact. Our reporter tried it and found that it works well to create the feeling that the other person is sitting across from you, making the resulting interactions feel very realistic. Others who have tried it say the same.

Google has tested the facility internally and is now preparing to set up Starline booths in off-site offices. You probably can’t use Starline yet, unless you happen to work with one of the companies that Google works with in the US. (Salesforce, T-Mobile, and WeWork, to name a few.) It’s also not clear what Google plans to do with the technology. The company has positioned it as a way for distant relatives or colleagues to connect. A more realistic interaction could help remote workers engage in less stilted conversations. Yes, you’re stuck in that Starline cabin, but at least you don’t have to be jumping around with a headset.

Here’s more of this week’s news from the gear desk.

iPhone coaster

At its iPhone announcement event in September, Apple took advantage of multiple opportunities to scare the deaths of anyone who dared venture outside of their home. Apple’s true goal was to highlight the emergency features of its new iPhones and Apple Watches. One of these was crash detection, which can automatically call emergency services if the phone detects you’re in a car collision. Apple says its hardware can detect the types of sudden stops and inversions that can occur on a wreck. Oh, but do you know where else these movements might be taking place? On a roller coaster.

At theme parks across the US, iPhone users have reported riding twisting roller coasters and later discovering their phone called the police. In some cases, emergency responders have turned up on site because of these false alarms. Critics have raised concerns that this could potentially tie up emergency lines and staff. Apple has said the problem is not widespread and that the technology will improve over time.

Desire for a North Star

The Swedish car company Polestar has announced a new electric vehicle. The Polestar 3 is an SUV with four-wheel drive. The company says the 400V battery will go up to 300 miles on a charge. Inside is a dashboard powered by an Nvidia computer that projects driving information onto the windshield like a head-up display.

It starts at $83,900, which is almost double the debut price of the previous model, the Polestar 2. There is no official release date for the Polestar 3, but the company plans to start selling the vehicles in late 2023.

The Zuck Zone

Mark Zuckerberg has bet a lot on the Metaverse. His company Meta has already pumped billions of dollars into the virtual world, confident that one day it will inevitably go mainstream. The thing is, it will take a long time for this bet to pay off. Meanwhile, Meta just announced a new $1,500 VR headset. The technology is cool, but there’s still no sign that society as a whole is keen on putting on a face computer and diving into the virtual world. (Regardless, the headset also uses inward-facing cameras to track the wearer’s eye movements and facial expressions, raising privacy concerns in particular because it’s meta on the other end.)

This week on our gadget lab Podcast, WIRED Editor-in-Chief Steven Levy, author of the book Facebook: The Inside Storyjoins the show to talk about Meta’s VR ambitions and when – if ever – VR could finally take off.