

Google is Building Star Trek - jefftala
http://www.jeffreytalajic.com/2011/05/11/google-is-building-star-trek/

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alanh
_Specifically, MICROSOFT has three technologies that could, theoretically,
provide a Star Trek like experience in your home:

1\. Voice recognition

Anyone with Visual Studio knows how easy it is to use MICROSOFT's voice
recognition framework. They’ve had it for years, and it keeps getting better.

2\. MICROSOFT HOME NETWORKING and UPNP

Since the days of MSHOME, Microsoft has been hard at work getting your fridge,
phone, and computer to talk to each other -- with zero configuration! Did we
say phone? We meant tricorder.

3\. Search (Bing)

MICROSOFT's Bing takes you beyond information retrieval. As a Decision Engine,
it's just what Jean-Luc needs when deciding whether to enter Cardassian space
or not._

Seriously: The fundamental technologies to “talk to your [handheld device] and
display search results on a television” have been around for years and years
now, but it’s not _really_ a compelling use-case and furthermore takes real
vision and commitment to deliver this as part of a really usable experience,
something that has not really been Google or Microsoft's strong suit.

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modernerd
Google Goggles[1] is one I'd add to his list of three.

Image recognition might not be very Star Trek-ish, but I think it has more
potential than speech recognition. Google seem to feel the same way, because
they plug it pretty heavily in the Nexus S promo[2].

Jean-Luc Picard, for example, appears to favour speech recognition as an input
method only when there's little background noise. In the heat of battle, he
barks orders at his crew, who interpret his commands and input them on touch
screens.

The same is true of speech recognition today -- it's handy at times (e.g. when
driving), but its use cases are limited to rare moments of solitude, not in
the busy offices, bustling homes, and daily commutes that fill much of our
lives.

[1]: <http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/>

[2]: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxUXulxE5o0>

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pohl
Sever down. Could they be building a computer where sparks fly from the
terminal when it can't handle the input?

Did anybody get the text?

~~~
ugh
It's an observation, not an announcement or prediction and focuses on three
technologies — search, voice recognition, an OS for everything with a CPU —
and their ability to create a Star Trekian experience.

~~~
alanh
There’s just the small matter of Google being almost incapable of delivering,
you know, _experiences_.

~~~
modernerd
They're working pretty hard to change people's minds about that; to focus less
on the tech and more on the experience. I thought their "Dear Sophie" video
was a pretty compelling example: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4vkVHijdQk>

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m0tive
Seems to be up again, but if not:
[http://www.jeffreytalajic.com.nyud.net/2011/05/11/google-
is-...](http://www.jeffreytalajic.com.nyud.net/2011/05/11/google-is-building-
star-trek/)

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baggachipz
_...and boom goes the dynamite._

-edit- Since the site's back up, I will ask this in relation to the article: How is there not an equivalent extension for Chrome that does voice input? I'd love to use that to compose emails.

