Unleashcreativity with technology

Emilia Branzan, Industry Manager

January 2017

Mainstream Virtual RealityImmersive experiences for the masses

Examples

Virtual Reality is comingTilt Brush (Google)A virtual reality tool that paints the spacearound you. It was brilliantly used by legendary Disney artist Glen Keane to illustrate the disruptive power of VR. (more)

VR CareNew open-source VR headset, designed for hospital contexts, with apps specifically built to distract burn patients from their painful routine treatments.

Magic Leap The Google-backed startup is working on a head-mounted virtual retinal display which superimposes 3D imagery over real world objects, by projecting a digital light field into the user's eye. (more)

Artificial CreativityMachines learn to be creative

StyleNet (Cornell University)This research extracts the artistic style of an image — for example, a painting by Van Gogh or Edvard Munch, and applies it to another image, such as a photograph. (more)

No man’s sky (Hello Games)An upcoming science-fiction game set in aninfinite procedurally generated galaxy. All the planets with their flora and fauna will be algorithmically generated thus enablinginfinite possibilities. (more)

ElbphilharmonieConcert hall designed by an algorithm. The most interesting feature is the central auditorium, a gleaming ivory cave built from 10,000 unique acoustic panels that line the ceiling, walls, and balustrades.

Google PhotosWith Google Photos, you can search for anything from "hugs" to "dogs" because the system uses our latest image recognition system.

The Age of Robots Machines get autonomous

Piloted mech robotThe 13-feet-tall, 1.3-ton machine was created to work in extreme conditions where humans cannot go unprotected. It won't be able to go on rescue missions anytime soon, though -- not without a power source that's portable enough.

Buddy (Blue Frogs Robotics)A social robot that connects, protects and interacts with each member of the family. The robot can also be used to keep an eye on your house or take care of the elderly people. (more)

Things Become DisruptiveDigital goes weird and wonderful

Amazon GoAmazon is replacing the checkout till with your phone. You scan your phone on the barrier when you walk in, pick up whatever you want, and then just walk out. It works out everything you picked up, and charges your Amazon account automatically.(more)

Self-parking chair by NissanClap your hands and the chairs ‘park’ themselves. While this is pretty gimmicky, it’s a really clever (and accessible) way to show off Nissan’s self-parking technology in an unexpected way. (more)

Examples

Virtual Reality is comingStar Wars Mixed Reality A mixed reality experience displaying Star Wars scenes on top of the real world. Theexperience is powered by Project Tango, a depth sensing technology developed by Google. (more)

STEP-it with Happy MealThe fast-food giant is encouraging kids to get moving with a new "STEP-it" fitness tracker. Every Happy Meal sold in the US and Canada will include one of six wrist-worn pedometers that also blink slowly or quickly depending on a child's activity (more)

Crafted by my heartDownload the app, let it read your heartbeat (using the phone’s camera), and then it’ll create ring design based on what it read.Then you can get it 3D printed. (more)

Play-Doh TouchSimilar to LEGO Fusion, you can now take a photo of your Play-Doh creation and turn it into a digital version, although the functionality seems limited at the moment.

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PlantNet (Shazam for Plants)You take a photo of a plant, leaf or flower and upload it with the app. An algorithm then uses Google’s reverse image search to locate similar images. After compiling enough comparable data, it then tells the user the name of the plant they’re blankly staring at.

Smart Hairbrush from L’orealL’Oreal’ has developed a smart hairbrush that can tell you more about the health of your locks than your hairdresser can. How come? Oh well, there’s a microphone that listens to the sound of your hair as you brush to detect correct or incorrect patterns in your technique. (more)

Thank you!Questions? emiliab@google.com