Google's Moonshot Projects

30316 In Jun Song

Ever since the legendary match with Lee Sedol and AlphaGo took place, people have taken interest in Google's many projects. I was also amazed by the results, and I decided to research on how far Google has gotten with AI. To my surprise, the Deepmind project was only the tip of the iceberg on Google's many plans to better shape our future. Google was engaged not only in AI, but also wearable tech, transportation, fast internet coverage, and clean energy.

The most well-known project by Google is probably the Deepmind project. Google's acquisition of Deepmind led to the development of AlphaGo. Although Deepmind is currently limited to games, it is expected to use reinforcement learning to expand its learning capabilities with other sectors.

Google's wearable tech, Google Glass, is already widely-known. The geeky looking glasses looks to change our every day lives soon. However, its camera and the possibility of violating privacy has been an issue, leading to the ban of it in some stores and restaurants. We will see the full potential, both positive and negative, when it is officially released to the market.

Google is also investing on the project of self-driving cars. The system has proven itself effective over the last few years, and it is even safer than vehicles driven by humans. During its many trials the only accidents were caused by humans. Google's self-driving cars are now allowed on all roads in California, and the trend will follow on other states and maybe other nations.

Internet coverage by Google gaining widespread popularity in the US. Google's super fast internet, Google Fiber is providing services to many cities in the nation. The speed that the service will provide will prove itself to be vital in the information-flood(?) era. Also, Google plans to beam 5G internet from solar drones and balloons. People will be able to use the free, reliable internet service wherever they want.

Clean energy, especially solar power, is another sector that Google is investing on. Project Sunroof aims to use satellites and Google maps to help people find the best places to install solar panels. It can even give an estimate on how much people can save by installing them.

Google has so many future-oriented projects that it is hard to count them all. Additional projects range from space exploration (Lunar XPrize) to robotics (Boston Dynamics). I am looking forward to seeing the benefits of these projects.