A top Google executive says that the company made its own "Star Trek" communicator but it never left the testing phase.
Characters of "Star Trek" wore a pin-badge which was not just used as a decoration piece. The pin-badge was used by characters in the move to communicate with other crew members.
Amit Singhal, a senior vice president in charge of Google's search initiatives, said in an interview with Time that the company made a fully working prototype of the communicator inspired by "Star Trek."
Singhal explained that the pin-badge communicator works by pairing it with a smartphone via Bluetooth. Singhal added that the "Star Trek" type pin-badge would be activated with a simple tap. With the inbuilt microphone, the badge can perform voice searches over the Internet. It can also work as a communication medium with other users of the pin-badge.
"I always wanted that pin. You just ask it anything and it works. That's why we were like, 'Let's go prototype that and see how it feels,'" says Singhal.
Voice search commands have gained a lot of popularity in the last few years and companies such as Apple, MIcrosoft and Google already have their versions of artificial assistants to help users perform voice-based functions.
Google already has an intelligent personal assistant called Google Now; however, the "Star Trek" communicator shows that the company is actively searching for new ways of searching on the Internet and also communicate with others.
The prototype of the communicator is similar to existing Bluetooth headsets and smartwatches that can be paired with smartphones for performing various functions on the phone given by a voice command by a user. "Star Trek" has a huge fan following and anything associated with its name can make a deep impact on "Star Trek" enthusiasts.
If Google released the communicator with a "Star Trek" connection then many customers may have bought the device. Unfortunately, the prototype never left the testing phase, which means that probably Google has dropped the idea of officially releasing the communicator.
