Hey—we've moved. Visit
The Keyword
for all the latest news and stories from Google
Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Putting the “real” in “virtual reality”
March 31, 2016
Virtual reality has brought us to places ranging from the bottom of the ocean to the surface of Mars. But as good as VR is, it’s never been quite as real as, well… real life. Google Cardboard Plastic, launching today, changes all that. It’s our latest step toward truly immersive technology—a new viewer that lets you see, touch, smell and hear the world just like you do in real life.
Cardboard Plastic is the world’s first actual reality headset, complete with 4D integrated perspective, 360° spatially accurate sound, 20/20 resolution, and advanced haptics for realistic touch sensations. Expertly crafted from polymethyl methacrylate, Cardboard Plastic is lightweight, waterproof, and engineered to last a lifetime—no batteries, no wires. And unlike other VR headsets, it integrates seamlessly into your life—so you’ll never miss a thing. Unless you blink.
Find more about Cardboard Plastic at
google.com/cardboardplastic
. The future is clear.
Posted by Jon Wiley, Director of Immersive Design, Google Cardboard Plastic
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7UutrsXY1f_dILAGvhpo7gA6Hf2VJQULnuqs90YEond6xpAYD9bbvgzB5WRnukTKYp1mpVoyHIfqH0hyphenhyphenWi4LRMinWVZuhJbjR1dVWoTYJyaUXnPenXPrZ1DQ8wqMF48JPe0wr/s1600/cardboardPlastic2.jpg
Jon Wiley
Director of Immersive Design
Google Cardboard Plastic
Take a virtual step into Abbey Road Studios
March 30, 2016
Last year, we opened the doors to the music landmark
Abbey Road Studios
, where musical legends like the Beatles and Pink Floyd have recorded. With a
click of a mouse or a tap of a screen
, more than 2 million fans from around the world have stepped Inside Abbey Road to explore the famous studios. Now you can go even further and experience what it actually
feels
like—and sounds like—inside the studios, using
Google Cardboard
and your smartphone.
To get this virtual reality experience,
download the app on Android
(iOS coming soon), then start your journey with a nine-part guided tour narrated by
Giles Martin
, the son of the late Beatles producer, George Martin, who shares the history of the studios from the 1930’s to present day.
After the tour, you can quite literally move around the studios at your leisure to see hidden treasures like Studio 3’s Mirrored Drum Room, where the mirrors help to create a close, bright and loud sound quality. Uncover one of Abbey Road's Mastering Suites, where a record gets its finishing touches before a release. In Studio 1, experience what it’s like to be in a recording session with the London Symphony Orchestra with surround sound.
With Inside Abbey Road for Cardboard, you can get even closer to the history, stories and innovation of the most famous music studios in the world.
Posted by Tom Seymour, Creative Lead and VR sightseer, Google Creative Lab London
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghNwTb58Frk5yZESwQ9B8Iam0uVY_B3Jsc2QNsqFmFDgRiQG4WZ7M643YXhQ_aF0LRJlqOcLcH6e4_u7NdNCGxFCHdfTnMPh2yxn6Tz9AbWMFpzqWDI9r9eNqDqP8G20ELKfY7/s1600/Inside+Abbey+Road.jpg
Tom Seymour
Creative Lead
Google Creative Lab London
Smarter photo albums, without the work
March 22, 2016
Remember the last time you went on a trip or had a fun weekend? You probably took photos and videos—lots of them—but didn’t do much beyond posting a couple on social media. Maybe you thought about making an album to share with your family or friends, but picking out the best photos and organizing them can feel as fun as unpacking your suitcase—so more often than not, they just sit on your phone or computer.
Starting today, after an event or trip, Google Photos will suggest a new album for you, curated with just your best shots. It’ll also add maps to show how far you traveled and location pins to remember where you went—because it's not always easy to recall the late-night diner you hit on your road trip, or which campsite you pitched the tent in when arriving after dark.
You can add text captions to the album to describe the view from the
small hill
huge mountain you climbed, and turn on collaboration to let others add their own photos. Or if you want to create one yourself, any existing album can now be customized with maps, location pins, and text. Voilà: You have a
beautiful album
ready to share.
This new album experience is rolling out today on Android, iOS, and the web. We’re taking the best of stories and bringing them to albums, so your adventures are easier to browse, edit, collaborate on, and share.
Posted by Francois de Halleux, Product Manager, Google Photos
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtARddbbjh6kt3fZ4RnxDTJp1iaHiCiTTpVu2b3lijDxHDZidIMbRrOrR4Z3EeIGL2I7kepKv5C2dQgs89btga_QEhK-X7qM7NhMBSM-GwAUS6ooINzHH2J_vx5kouiwsuo4vZ/s1600/GooglePhotos.jpg
Francois de Halleux
Product Manager
Google Photos
Water organizations using tech to make an impact
March 22, 2016
By 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in
water-stressed areas
. Already, more than
663 million people
in the world live without clean water. And drought is a major challenge in geographies ranging from Northern California, which is facing its
worst drought in 1,200 years
; to east Africa, where a devastating drought has led to crop failures affecting
an estimated 23 million people
.
To address challenges at this scale, we need creative solutions—both to raise awareness for these issues, and create new interventions to meet local needs. So this
World Water Day
, we want to highlight a handful of organizations who are using technologies—like virtual reality, data analysis, and mapping—to make a difference.
Documenting impact with 360 video
The nonprofit organization
charity:water
uses the power of crowd-fundraising to build wells in communities with limited access to clean water. Since 2006, they’ve funded more than 19,000 water projects in 24 countries that will serve more than 6 million people. Three years ago, Google.org gave charity:water a
US$5 million grant
to build well sensors that notify local mechanics of the need for repair—helping ensure ongoing access to clean water and creating new local jobs.
Today, charity:water is releasing
The Source
on YouTube 360, a virtual reality film that documents the before-and-after impact of one of these well projects in Ethiopia.
To view the video in 360, press play and use the arrows on the cursor in the upper left-hand corner to look up, down, right and left.
Mapping our waterways with Street View in Google Maps
With California in its worst drought in recorded history, the need to understand and manage the state’s rivers, lakes, and watersheds is acute. Environmental organizations like the
Nature Conservancy, California
and the
Freshwater Trust
have borrowed the Street View Trekker—used as a backpack and mounted on a kayak—to capture 360-degree imagery. These images are useful in many ways; for The Nature Conservancy, the data will provide baseline imagery to compare forest growth and regrowth over time. The Freshwater Trust is using the imagery to validate their scientific models of the river, and prioritize areas for restoration, such as planting of native plant species along the banks.
The Freshwater Trust scientist guides the Trekker-mounted kayak down the Russian River, capturing 360-degree imagery as he floats. Photo Credit: Brian Kelley of The Freshwater Trust.
For non-scientists, it’s easy to click through on Street View to take in these natural watershed wonders, firsthand. Check out
Independence Lake Preserve
and the
Russian River
for yourself!
Monitoring clean water with sensors
When it comes to water contamination in rural areas, collecting reliable data is often one of the biggest challenges. In 2014, a nonprofit called Associacao O Eco won the
Google Impact Challenge: Brazil
with a proposal for a data-collection project called
InfoAmazonia
. The project will deploy a network of sensors that send a text message to local citizens and officials if contamination is detected. In the next phase of the project, the organization plans to create an open-source toolkit and citizen-led initiative that enables local people to install these sensors, understand their own data, and advocate for a cleaner water supply.
Two members of the InfoAmazonia team install the Mãe d´água sensor in one of the communities in Santarém, Pará, Brazil.
Water tracking with satellites
Between 2011-2012, Africa endured its
worst drought in 50 years
. Without water, crop failures have lead to
malnourishment and displacement across the region
. To help with the relief efforts, we gave a grant to the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) for satellite imaging technologies to assess crop availability, monitor water quality in Lakes Victoria and Malawi, and provide data for an early warning system for floods and fires.
The near real-time data capture has helped local officials make informed decisions about managing water resources, and addressing food security in the region.
Examples of data and imagery collected through the satellite system.
Help raise awareness on water issues
This year, water nonprofit
Drop4Drop
is asking people to complete the sentence “W is for…” in order to raise awareness for the global clean water crisis. To us, “W is for... Water organizations using tech to make an impact.” The solutions to the world’s water challenges are complex, and some will take years to achieve. These organizations are applying technology to these challenges in new and unique ways, and we’re glad to play a small part.
We encourage you to write your own “W is for…” post and use the hashtag #W4Water to join the conversation on social media.
Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Google.org
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihrHvQf19jCEAk-zaLo3yEbMtk2JVuS3vHdnjDRaLMqC4ZlTsvH9a1St_RVPGBuOYf6kElJJywZSDfCCXHTLLfWTKlwHxM14FhVYSMXJEXHv0ZaOlQd3187voo8gOolEZGWX13/s1600/12039039_10153640154477510_8747395503178479615_o.jpg
Jacquelline Fuller
Google.org
Akilah’s “Afrocentric life” doodle wins Doodle 4 Google 2016
March 21, 2016
Today’s blog post is by the winner of this year’s
Doodle 4 Google
competition, 10th grader Akilah Johnson. Given the contest’s theme—“What makes me...me”—who better than the young artist herself to answer that question?
- Ed.
When I was younger, I attended
Roots Public Charter School
and
Roots Activity Learning Center
in Northwest Washington, D.C. These schools promote a strong connection to African heritage, and an Afrocentric lifestyle; we regularly celebrated important African American people and I learned a lot about my history as an African American. As I grew older, I realized that the black people that came before us have made us into what we are today. So of course I had to include them in my doodle on the theme “What makes me...me.”
My goal with my art was to not only turn heads but souls as well—not only for someone to see it and be amazed by it but also to have them understand and connect with it. My drawing explores childhood themes and then moves into reflections on our society. Everything surrounding the word "Google" depicts my characteristics. Of all the things I chose to include, the six most special to me are the Symbol of Life (the ankh), the African continent, where everything began for me and my ancestors, the Eye of Horus, the word "power" drawn in black, the woman's fist based on one of my favorite artist’s works, and the D.C. flag—because I’m a Washingtonian at heart and I love my city with everything in me!
I've always been encouraged to pursue art, especially by my teachers—first Baba Camera from Roots, and now my art teacher Zalika Perkins. But participating in Doodle 4 Google gave me an understanding of why art matters and why MY art matters—because it speaks to people. No matter our differences, everyone is touched by art in some way. Winning this competition opened my eyes to the many types of art and the many ways it can resonate with people. I’m excited to keep creating art that matters.
Posted by Akilah Johnson, Doodle 4 Google winner
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1P4I9HT_4QuKe_j_DtQtFmGAFVEMvQGvXPfnrYbTCc5cT1Ej8sGCd8JV399-Ac4_YnhXLtgUORzTkwFTUniwFAnZxNA-kulvL0u5XccIlsbpuoBXRYDXOTLcSUorSKVZO-R6G/s1600/Akilah+Johnson-DC.jpg
AUTHOR NAME
AUTHOR TITLE
AUTHOR TEAM
What we learned in Seoul with AlphaGo
March 16, 2016
Go isn’t just a game—it’s a living, breathing culture of players, analysts, fans, and legends. Over the last 10 days in Seoul, South Korea, we’ve been lucky enough to witness some of that incredible excitement firsthand. We've also had the chance to see something that's never happened before:
DeepMind
's AlphaGo took on and defeated legendary Go player, Lee Sedol (9-dan professional with 18 world titles), marking a major milestone for artificial intelligence.
Pedestrians checking in on the AlphaGo vs. Lee Sedol Go match on the streets of Seoul (March 13)
Go may be one of the oldest games in existence, but the attention to our five-game tournament exceeded even our wildest imaginations. Searches for Go rules and Go boards spiked in the U.S. In China, tens of millions watched live streams of the matches, and the “Man vs. Machine Go Showdown” hashtag saw 200 million pageviews on Sina Weibo. Sales of Go boards even
surged
in Korea.
Our public test of AlphaGo, however, was about more than winning at Go. We founded DeepMind in 2010 to create general-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) that can learn on its own—and, eventually, be used as a tool to help society solve some of its biggest and most pressing problems, from climate change to disease diagnosis.
Like many researchers before us, we've been developing and testing our algorithms through games. We first revealed
AlphaGo
in January—the first AI program that could beat a professional player at the most complex board game mankind has devised, using
deep learning
and
reinforcement learning
. The
ultimate challenge
was for AlphaGo to take on the best Go player of the past decade—Lee Sedol.
To everyone's surprise, including ours, AlphaGo won four of the five games. Commentators noted that AlphaGo played many unprecedented, creative, and even
“beautiful”
moves. Based on our data, AlphaGo’s bold
move 37
in Game 2 had a 1 in 10,000 chance of being played by a human. Lee countered with innovative moves of his own, such as his
move 78
against AlphaGo in Game 4—again, a 1 in 10,000 chance of being played—which ultimately resulted in a win.
The final score was 4-1. We're contributing the $1 million in prize money to organizations that support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and Go, as well as UNICEF.
We’ve learned two important things from this experience. First, this test bodes well for AI’s potential in solving other problems. AlphaGo has the ability to look “globally” across a board—and find solutions that humans either have been trained not to play or would not consider. This has huge potential for using AlphaGo-like technology to find solutions that humans don’t necessarily see in other areas. Second, while the match has been widely billed as "man vs. machine," AlphaGo is really a human achievement. Lee Sedol and the AlphaGo team both pushed each other toward new ideas, opportunities and solutions—and in the long run that's something we all stand to benefit from.
But as they say about Go in Korean: “Don’t be arrogant when you win or you’ll lose your luck.” This is just one small, albeit significant, step along the way to making machines smart. We’ve demonstrated that our cutting edge deep reinforcement learning techniques can be used to make strong Go and
Atari
players. Deep neural networks are already used at Google for specific tasks—like
image recognition
,
speech recognition
, and
Search ranking
. However, we’re still a long way from a machine that can learn to flexibly perform the full range of intellectual tasks a human can—the hallmark of true
artificial general intelligence
.
Demis and Lee Sedol hold up the signed Go board from the Google DeepMind Challenge Match
With this tournament, we wanted to test the limits of AlphaGo. The genius of Lee Sedol did that brilliantly—and we’ll spend the next few weeks studying the games he and AlphaGo played in detail. And because the machine learning methods we’ve used in AlphaGo are general purpose, we hope to apply some of these techniques to other challenges in the future. Game on!
Posted by Demis Hassabis, CEO and Co-Founder of DeepMind
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjet2pn-5CYgeoTLOW7HCFr6HQm1ofYi0F3tU9ew_kdVUsAoqKLM7lneaeMsdATD5jDEgIfJwk3mbH3YutVIxFfA9M1J56HRmT-AjaZY9UOrwZscqalBD4ycJhAto1ERmPNU_u/s320/A26U5144.jpg
Demis Hassabis
CEO and Co-Founder
DeepMind
New ways to plan your vacation while on the go
March 8, 2016
With spring around the corner, it’s time to look forward to sunnier skies—and summer getaways. These days, mobile phones make it easier than ever for you to sneak in vacation dreaming and planning here and there—in line at the coffee shop, waiting at the doctor’s office, or on your way to meet a friend.
In fact, last year, according to our internal data for google.com, we saw a whopping 50 percent increase in travel-related questions on mobile phones. But even as that number grows, it can be hard to get all the right information in one place on a small screen. There are a dizzying number of questions to answer when planning a trip: What are the best places to visit? What time of year is good to go? What kind of prices can I expect?
Today we’re introducing something to make all this easier: Destinations on Google, which helps you discover and plan your next vacation, right from Google Search on your phone.
Here’s how it works:
Search with Google on your mobile phone for the continent, country, or state you’d like to travel to and add the word “destination” to see an easy-to-browse collection of options. Destinations integrates a deep understanding of all the places in the world with
Google Flights
and
Hotel search
, so you can see available flight and hotel prices
instantly
. So instead of jumping between a dozen links or tabs to get the information you need, you can sit back and scroll—and leave the heavy lifting to us.
To find a vacation that’s just your style, search for a destination and something you’d like to do there, like “spain surfing,” “new zealand hiking,” or “colorado skiing.” We’ll suggest spots that fit with your hobbies and interests.
Say you’re planning to take some time off in June or July, but you haven’t decided exactly when to go. The “Flexible Dates” filter lets you refine your results by month, so you can see when fares and rates are lowest within the time range you want, across multiple destinations.
Want to avoid crowds or bad weather? Select any destination and tap the “Explore” tab to see what the weather is like year-round and when your destination is most popular, based on historic visits from other travelers.
Once you've selected a destination, tap "Plan a trip" to see rates for hotels and flights. We show you highs and lows for the next six months, so you can find the right price tag for you. And as you slide left or right, the results instantly update with real-time fares and rates, pulling from the trillions of flight itineraries and hotels we price every day on
Google Flights
and
Hotel search
. You can also tap the pencil icon to customize results further with flight and hotel preferences, including number of stops, hotel class, and number of travelers.
Whether you’ve got five days or 12, don’t fret about figuring out where to go first or which spots you can’t miss. Simply search for “Spain travel,” and click the blue arrow icon to browse the most frequently traveled itineraries. The suggested itineraries are based on historic visits by other travelers to those places, so you can use the wisdom of the crowd and save time researching.
Let Destinations on Google make it smooth sailing to your next vacation. Bon voyage!
Posted by Radhika Malpani, Engineering Director, Travel
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxCTfZqE9H725PhTn7T3NHWWzCeId6SeuJWYDRVaDsI4WjiyTz066LpSLD5Y53qIKIiQdZ-j9TVSiuD6NYQqZEkD81eX2gZErmQb3-1r1BftLQWz7FSKRvucPYDafhVkRYJBfC/s1600/TravelDestinations.jpg
Radhika Malpani
Engineering Director
Travel
Labels
accessibility
41
acquisition
26
ads
131
Africa
19
Android
58
apps
419
April 1
4
Asia
39
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
33
culture
12
developers
120
diversity
35
doodles
68
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
Europe
46
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
73
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
202
green
102
Latin America
18
maps and earth
194
mobile
124
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
39
policy and issues
139
politics
71
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
505
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2016
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2005
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2004
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.