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X, an American semi-secret research and development facility founded by Google in January 2010 as Google X, operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.
Work at X is overseen by entrepreneur scientist Astro Teller, as CEO and "Captain of Moonshots". The lab started with the development of Google's self-driving car.
While X projects are often referred to as "moonshots" within the company, not all so-described moonshots are part of X. For example, Calico, Google's life extension project, is considered a moonshot but is not a part of X.
In mid-2014, Google said there were 8 projects being developed at X. As of late 2014, X projects that have been revealed include Wing, Glass, Loon, and the driverless car.
Projects:
- Waymo - self driving car
- Loon - Project Loon is a project that aims to bring internet access to everyone by creating an internet network of balloons flying through the stratosphere. It uses wireless routers in balloons that are above weather and plans to give access to the internet to those who can't reach it or are in need of help.
- Wing - Project Wing is a project that aims to rapidly deliver products across a city by using flying vehicles, similar to the Amazon Prime Air concept.
- Glass - Project Glass is a R&D program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD).
- Barge - In October 2013, the existence of 4 Google barges was revealed, with the vessels registered under the dummy corporation By And Large. Two of the barges have a superstructure whose construction has been kept under the utmost secrecy, while speculations indicate they could be used as marketing for, and stores for, Google Glass. However, these are merely speculations. Others have suggested that it might be used as a floating data center.
Graduated projects
Explorations
Other projects
Projects that X has considered and rejected include a Space Elevator, which was deemed to be currently infeasible; a Hoverboard, which was determined to be too costly relative to the societal benefits; a user-safe Jetpack, which was thought to be too loud and energy-wasting; and Teleportation, which was found to violate the laws of physics.
I just thought this was interesting.
Work at X is overseen by entrepreneur scientist Astro Teller, as CEO and "Captain of Moonshots". The lab started with the development of Google's self-driving car.
While X projects are often referred to as "moonshots" within the company, not all so-described moonshots are part of X. For example, Calico, Google's life extension project, is considered a moonshot but is not a part of X.
In mid-2014, Google said there were 8 projects being developed at X. As of late 2014, X projects that have been revealed include Wing, Glass, Loon, and the driverless car.
Projects:
- Waymo - self driving car
- Loon - Project Loon is a project that aims to bring internet access to everyone by creating an internet network of balloons flying through the stratosphere. It uses wireless routers in balloons that are above weather and plans to give access to the internet to those who can't reach it or are in need of help.
- Wing - Project Wing is a project that aims to rapidly deliver products across a city by using flying vehicles, similar to the Amazon Prime Air concept.
- Glass - Project Glass is a R&D program by Google to develop an augmented reality head-mounted display (HMD).
- Barge - In October 2013, the existence of 4 Google barges was revealed, with the vessels registered under the dummy corporation By And Large. Two of the barges have a superstructure whose construction has been kept under the utmost secrecy, while speculations indicate they could be used as marketing for, and stores for, Google Glass. However, these are merely speculations. Others have suggested that it might be used as a floating data center.
Graduated projects
The Google contact lens, a smart contact lens that aims to assist people with diabetes by constantly measuring the glucose levels in their tears, was announced by Google on 16 January 2014. This project, the nanodiagnostics project to develop a cancer-detecting pill, and other life sciences efforts are now being carried out by Verify.
Google Brain is now a deep learning research project at Google which started as an X project. Considered one of the biggest successes, Astro Teller has said this one project has produced enough value for Google to more than cover the total costs of X.
Explorations
- Foghorn
- Calcifer
Other projects
- The Web Of Things, a way of connecting real-world objects to the Internet.
- Long lasting smartphone batteries
Projects that X has considered and rejected include a Space Elevator, which was deemed to be currently infeasible; a Hoverboard, which was determined to be too costly relative to the societal benefits; a user-safe Jetpack, which was thought to be too loud and energy-wasting; and Teleportation, which was found to violate the laws of physics.
I just thought this was interesting.
