It’s been five years since Google first offered a glimpse of Project Starline, a three-dimensional videoconferencing platform billed at the time as as a “magic window” that enables realistic and immersive calls.
On Wednesday, Google announced that Google Beam — as the software element of the product is now called — is generally available for purchase, built into HP’s Dimension video meeting hardware. The Dimension hardware reportedly costs around $25,000 per unit; Google did not provide details for costs related to hardware or additional software licenses. The combined products will be sold in six countries at first: Canada, France, Germany, Japan, UK, and US.
Google has also partnered with co-working space provider Industrious to make Beam available to try at its locations across the US, including Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, and Palo Alto.