Google Beam is a new communication platform that turns 2D videos into a 3D experience

At I/O 2025, Google announced that its Project Starlight would be rebranded into Beam. This is a new 3D video communication platform that turns 2D video streams into 3D experiences, allowing users to connect in a more personal way over video calls.

Imagine Zoom, but with depth. Not just in conversation, but in literal visual dimension. That’s what Google is pitching with Beam, a reimagined version of its earlier, ultra-futuristic Project Starline. First revealed in 2021, Starline wowed the tech world with its life-size, hologram-like presence. Now, that experimental magic has a new name and a more practical future.

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Beam leverages the Google Cloud platform sprinkled with a lot of AI magic to deliver enterprise-grade compatibility and reliability. Google also announced that Beam would receive support for real-time speech translation soon, enhancing communication to the next level. And HP will be the first brand to come onboard to create devices with Beam support.

Google Beam: A powerful new communication tool

This isn’t a gimmick. It’s not a virtual avatar. And it’s definitely not the metaverse. Beam works by setting up multiple cameras around you; think of it like a mini multi-cam studio that captures your face, posture, and gestures from every angle. Then, with a dose of Google’s proprietary AI sauce, it reconstructs your likeness as a three-dimensional presence on the other end.

That means if you shift slightly, so does your image. If you lean in, the person you’re talking to sees that motion in real-time, millimeter-accurate and rendered at 60 frames per second. There’s head tracking baked in, too, according to Google.

In a world of latency-ridden video calls and flat, expressionless meetings, Beam is designed to inject nuance back into digital conversation.

Beam uses an AI volumetric video model to transform 2D videos into realistic 3D experiences, and those who remember I/O 2021 when Project Starlight was announced will recall how impressive the demo was. It was one of those rare moments when Silicon Valley’s future-gazing lived up to the hype. That same DNA is now baked into Beam, but with broader ambitions.

The new platform replaces Project Starline with the aim of providing users with a video communication platform that can be accessed by many.

And yes, it’s coming sooner than you think. Google and HP are already collaborating on the first Beam-supported hardware, which will be made available to select enterprise customers in the coming months. Expect an official unveiling at InfoComm 2025 this June, where Beam will likely get its first big IRL moment.