Les idées dingues des savants fous de Google X. Si Google dispose de son propre labo de recherche et développement (baptisé Google Research), l'entreprise nourrit aussi des projets qui sortent de l'ordinaire - c'est le travail de Google X, d'où proviennent Glass, les voitures autonomes, les ballons-internet Loon, et autres « moonshots », ces projets parfois délirants qui nécessitent de lourds investissements avant de s'incarner dans la réalité.
Le dernier projet en date : des lentilles connectées permettant de surveiller le taux de glucose des diabétiques (lire : Google dévoile des lentilles connectées pour diabétique). Outre l'intérêt scientifique proprement dit, ces créations originales permettent à Google d'obtenir une couverture médiatique inégalée, et peaufinent l'image d'innovateur de l'entreprise. Et peut-être, qui sait, contribueront à changer le monde. Afin d'évaluer les idées et décider d'aller plus avant dans leur développement, chaque projet passe par le tamis de l'équipe d'« évaluation rapide ». The Truth About Google X: An Exclusive Look Behind The Secretive Lab's Closed Doors. Astro Teller is sharing a story about something bad.
Or maybe it's something good. At Google X, it's sometimes hard to know the difference. Teller is the scientist who directs day-to-day work at the search giant's intensely private innovation lab, which is devoted to finding unusual solutions to huge global problems. He isn't the president or chairman of X, however; his actual title, as his etched-glass business card proclaims, is Captain of Moonshots--"moonshots" being his catchall description for audacious innovations that have a slim chance of succeeding but might revolutionize the world if they do.
It is evening in Mountain View, California, dinnertime in a noisy restaurant, and Teller is recounting over the din how earlier in the day he had to give some unwelcome news to his bosses, Google cofounder Sergey Brin and CFO Patrick Pichette. Failure is not precisely the goal at Google X. X does not employ your typical Silicon Valley types. But in some ways that makes sense. The future is now. In the 15 years since its birth as Stanford University class project, Google has developed into the Skynet of our age: an all-encompassing tech giant that's investing billions into researching radical future technologies.
From wind turbine drones to hush-hush research lairs, we track down the Google-prompted developments that will be radically altering the way we live, work and play. Last year, Google pumped $6.8 billion into research and development – up 79 percent from 2010. The probable beneficiary of that money? Google X, its top-secret research division. Overseen by Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, Google X has engineered most, if not all, of the projects on this list – and the more out-there they are, the better. It’s easy to forget that two-thirds of the world’s population still don’t have internet access, but Google hasn't. Imagine a world where everything you own is fully integrated with the internet. Exactly what it sounds like: a lift going into outer space. In a Big Network of Computers, Evidence of Machine Learning.
Introducing our smart contact lens project. You’ve probably heard that diabetes is a huge and growing problem—affecting one in every 19 people on the planet.
But you may not be familiar with the daily struggle that many people with diabetes face as they try to keep their blood sugar levels under control. Uncontrolled blood sugar puts people at risk for a range of dangerous complications, some short-term and others longer term, including damage to the eyes, kidneys and heart. A friend of ours told us she worries about her mom, who once passed out from low blood sugar and drove her car off the road.
Many people I’ve talked to say managing their diabetes is like having a part-time job. Glucose levels change frequently with normal activity like exercising or eating or even sweating. Over the years, many scientists have investigated various body fluids—such as tears—in the hopes of finding an easier way for people to track their glucose levels.