Google reveals its 'X' lab considered building a jetpack
While the world awaits new products in new categories in development from Apple, Google has offered a glimpse into its own secretive "X" lab, revealing that it considered creating a user-safe jetpack before scrapping the concept.
Sean Connery as James Bond donning a jetpack in "Thunderball."
Unannounced or scrapped projects considered and developed under secrecy at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters almost never see the light of day. But Google X head Astro Teller doesn't have that same extreme secrecy policy, as he revealed some of his department's past projects in a talk at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on Tuesday, according to CNet.
As home to some of the company's most ambitious --?and sometimes strangest -- potential products, Google X is most famously the birthplace for Glass, Google's developer-only head-mounted display accessory.
But in its early days, the Google X lab considered building a user-safe jetpack, Teller revealed. The hope was to build a wearable personal traveling device that "wasn't a death trap."
The project was eventually scrapped because of power inefficiency. According to Teller, such a device would also be "loud as a motorcycle."
The Google X head revealed that the labs reject "easily" 100 proposed concepts every year. Google's "X" division is focused on making technology more personal and useful.
Google's candor stands in stark contrast to Apple's legendary secrecy. Late company co-founder Steve Jobs once proclaimed that he was just as proud of products that Apple considered but never shipped as he was of devices that were actually made available to consumers.
Prototype iPad designs with kickstand.
A rare glimpse into Apple's labs did come about as a result of the company's patent infringement litigation with rival Samsung. Pictures of early, unreleased iPhone and iPad prototypes were shown in court documents in an effort to prove that Apple toyed with many potential designs before settling on the final look of its popular portable devices.
In particular, early iPad prototypes included a dedicated kickstand that would allow the tablet to be propped up for use.
Though Apple has never publicly shown interest in anything quite as outlandish as a jetpack, some of the company's pie-in-the-sky concepts have been revealed over the years through patent filings. Among those were a pair of smart shoes that would notify a user when they need replacing, a dynamic touchscreen with an articulating frame that could provide users tactile feedback when typing, and a solar-powered MacBook with touch-sensitive surfaces all over its exterior.
Sean Connery as James Bond donning a jetpack in "Thunderball."
Unannounced or scrapped projects considered and developed under secrecy at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., headquarters almost never see the light of day. But Google X head Astro Teller doesn't have that same extreme secrecy policy, as he revealed some of his department's past projects in a talk at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York on Tuesday, according to CNet.
Google X is the company's skunkworks division, focused on ambitious or strange concepts that may never see the light of day.
As home to some of the company's most ambitious --?and sometimes strangest -- potential products, Google X is most famously the birthplace for Glass, Google's developer-only head-mounted display accessory.
But in its early days, the Google X lab considered building a user-safe jetpack, Teller revealed. The hope was to build a wearable personal traveling device that "wasn't a death trap."
The project was eventually scrapped because of power inefficiency. According to Teller, such a device would also be "loud as a motorcycle."
The Google X head revealed that the labs reject "easily" 100 proposed concepts every year. Google's "X" division is focused on making technology more personal and useful.
Google's candor stands in stark contrast to Apple's legendary secrecy. Late company co-founder Steve Jobs once proclaimed that he was just as proud of products that Apple considered but never shipped as he was of devices that were actually made available to consumers.
Prototype iPad designs with kickstand.
A rare glimpse into Apple's labs did come about as a result of the company's patent infringement litigation with rival Samsung. Pictures of early, unreleased iPhone and iPad prototypes were shown in court documents in an effort to prove that Apple toyed with many potential designs before settling on the final look of its popular portable devices.
In particular, early iPad prototypes included a dedicated kickstand that would allow the tablet to be propped up for use.
Though Apple has never publicly shown interest in anything quite as outlandish as a jetpack, some of the company's pie-in-the-sky concepts have been revealed over the years through patent filings. Among those were a pair of smart shoes that would notify a user when they need replacing, a dynamic touchscreen with an articulating frame that could provide users tactile feedback when typing, and a solar-powered MacBook with touch-sensitive surfaces all over its exterior.
Comments
Big deal, I considered making a cold fusion reactor before I scrapped the idea.
This is news now?
Really?
This just reeks of desperation by Google. Seriously, "Look at us. We considered building a jet pack. Isn't that cool! Google is cool and cutting edge. I mean, we considered making a JET PACK! We didn't actually make it, but we considered it. How awesome is that?!"
A jetpack.
…
Look, Google, let’s compromise. You get out of the software business entirely and focus on the self-driving cars and I’ll stop hating every single thing you do on principle. Because, hey, you can store every inch of my driving history but good luck selling that personal information to anyone and whoring me out to ads!
Oh, and do your fiber, too. Bankrupt ISPs, or at least force them to update their own hardware to compete. We know you’re in bed with the government right now, but that isn’t going to last much longer anyway.
Nice to see Google contributing ZERO. Google's like a kid with ADHD. So incredibly distracted and can't do one thing for more than five minutes.
1. Google is making tons of money from all those ads.
2. Google has no idea what to do with the tons of money they make from all those ads.
(duplicate removed)
I see a company desperately trying to explode in a million different directions in an attempt to find markets to dominate because they realize their core business will not last for much longer once AI advances enough to sidestep searches entirely. Information will simply be served up for people in a prepared form. Far less interaction with a visible search engine, far less display advertising.
Although Google X lab projects do indeed seem scattered all over the place it does allow for your employees to think out of the box, that surely can't be a bad thing. With regards to where Google is going in the future, because you're right Google's core business isn't sustainable in the long run, their recent acquisitions give a clear indication of what it is planning on doing. With the acquisition of Schaft, Industrial Perception, Redwood Robotics, Holomini, Meka Robotics, Bot & Dolly (robotics for the movie industry), DeepMind Technologies (specialized in AI) and of course Boston Dynamics it's pretty clear that Google is gambling big on the robotics industry for their future.
So, more Google Moonshot's of no profit value, but it seems to work for Wall Street.
OH! Hey, there’s an idea for them. They should work on perfecting this technology. Colored clouds for daytime, bioluminescent clouds for night…
‘Eat At Joe’s’ flies by… It’s just like the ‘40s.
Although Google X lab projects do indeed seem scattered all over the place it does allow for your employees to think out of the box, that surely can't be a bad thing. With regards to where Google is going in the future, because you're right Google's core business isn't sustainable in the long run, their recent acquisitions give a clear indication of what it is planning on doing. With the acquisition of Schaft, Industrial Perception, Redwood Robotics, Holomini, Meka Robotics, Bot & Dolly (robotics for the movie industry), DeepMind Technologies (specialized in AI) and of course Boston Dynamics it's pretty clear that Google is gambling big on the robotics industry for their future.
They are investing heavily in the robotics because of Ray Kurzweil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictions_made_by_Ray_Kurzweil
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html
OH! Hey, there’s an idea for them. They should work on perfecting this technology. Colored clouds for daytime, bioluminescent clouds for night…
‘Eat At Joe’s’ flies by… It’s just like the ‘40s.
The new cloud computing platform.
I can see all the Google investors right now shooting a big THUMBS UP and saying "Good job, Google, that's the way to use our money!"
Jetpacks, robots, and self driving cars, oh my!
While the world awaits new products in new categories in development from Apple, Google has offered a glimpse into its own secretive "X" lab, revealing that it considered creating a user-safe jetpack before scrapping the concept.
[...]
The Google X head revealed that the labs reject "easily" 100 proposed concepts every year. Google's "X" division is focused on making technology more personal and useful.
I considered building a jetpack almost 50 years ago--decades before Google's founders were even a gleam in their parents' eyes. And I reject thousands of ideas every year. Just last night I decided to forego another beer.
Anybody care to invest a few billion $ in my personal innovation factory?
/s
Ergo, to them, it's just "free" money!
No wonder they waste so much!
Actually a friend of mine son is interviewing there soon and he has background in the US space program and it appears Google plans to get into the space race. Not sure how this makes shareholder money. Maybe they plan to advertise in space in the coming years.
I know everyone complained about Apple's hoard of cash and they should do something with it or return it to investor. Google thinks that they should waste money on idea which they know will not see the light of day then actually smartly re-invest or return it to investors. At some point Google is going to run out of this cash and wonder when happen to it all.
Actually a friend of mine son is interviewing there soon and he has background in the US space program and it appears Google plans to get into the space race. Not sure how this makes shareholder money. Maybe they plan to advertise in space in the coming years.
Nothing complicated about it... the Google executive team is simply spacey.