9 ways Google is changing the world
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thumbed his nose at Google
for its various "moonshot" projects, currently housed at Google's
semi-secret X Labs.
When asked if Microsoft could learn a thing or two from X
Labs, Nadella retorted that there's always something to learn from "from
people who market themselves well."
He was right to some degree. Project X creates a lot of
hype for Google even though most of those projects aren't quite ready for the
public.
But you've still got to hand it to Google for being so
ambitious about ventures others would label "implausible" to
"impossible."
Google has already changed the world with its various
software services and platforms like Gmail, Google Maps, Android, and of course
Google search, but what Google is working on next is even more awe inspiring.
Google
glass: The head-mounted optical display is one of the only
projects to actually leave the Google X labs. Though it has some practical
applications for searching and navigating, it's still not quite ready for
consumers just yet it's still in beta and has a prohibitive $1,500 price tag.
Still, Google's wearable technology has found important
enterprise, military and government uses. In June, Nepal's government and
military opted to use Google Glass to track its various wild animals, but also
poachers that threatened the country's endangered flora and fauna.
Self-driving
car: The first official X Labs project, Google has spent the
last four years developing its autonomous cars with the help of the Stanford
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, even if "the technology is ahead of
the law in many areas," as one attorney for the California Department of
Motor Vehicles put it to The New York Times.
Most recently, Google unveiled a new prototype of its
self-driving car that has no wheels or pedals. Though it's a cute design,
Google said it aims on pitching its incredibly intelligent software, called
Google Chauffeur, to automobile manufacturers, giving them the data and tools
they need to bring the noble technology to market.
Smart
contact lens:The lens, which contains a mini glucose
sensor and a wireless chip, aims to help people living with diabetes by
measuring the sugar levels in their tears.
It's only been in development for two years now, but last
month, Google announced it will be working with Novartis' eye-care division
called "Alcon" to bring the smart contact lens to market.
Google
loon: Like Mark Zuckerberg's Internet.org initiative, Project
Loon aims to bring internet access to the two-thirds of the world that don't
have it yet except Google's solution involves Wi-Fi enabled hot air balloons
that remain in the stratosphere for about 100 days at a time to create a big
3G-like wireless network.
Though it's faced a few bumps along the way, Project Loon
actually reached its one-year milestone in mid-June. However, it's not quite
ready yet: Google's X chief Astro Teller told Wired the company is improving
the balloons' flight times.
Machine
Vision: To organize the world's data and multimedia, Google
(with the help of its DeepMind acquisition) is working on giving computers
"corresponding perception capabilities," so machines can do things
like "listen to soundtracks and music, and build descriptions of their
perceptions."
Google is constantly updating its research archives with
new papers, describing how to do things like annotate images and video and be
able to describe visual objects, but most recently, Google cofounders Sergey
Brin and Larry Page sat down with VC Vinod Khosla last month to insist "we
will be able to make machines that can reason, think and do things better than
we can."
Makani
power: Google previously invested in the green energy startup,
but eventually purchased Makani Power last May and wrapped the team into its
Google X Labs.
Google believes airborne wind turbines could be the
dominant form of clean energy, and though the technology presents some serious
challenges, the company currently has a working prototype. Google's April
purchase of drone maker Titan Aerospace will also reportedly help Makani
achieve its goals of bringing clean, efficient wind-powered energy to the US
