After years of satellite imagery and Google Maps cars driving around our neighborhoods, Google is offering the world a little more privacy by allowing us to blur or completely remove Street View photos which would otherwise reveal the locations of our respective secret lairs. This is more of a public service announcement than anything else,…

In a world-first breakthrough, Google claims its quantum computer carried out a specific calculation that is beyond the practical capabilities of regular, ‘classical’ machines. In comparison, the same calculation that the team used as a testing metric would take the most advanced ‘classical’ supercomputer 10,000 years to complete, the company estimates. The findings were revealed…

Even though Google’s Pixel 2 release is a wee 364 days from its predecessor (it’s rumored to hit shelves this October 19), the company has done its best to include as many add-ons as it can with its new phone. Of all the new upgrades and features, the instant language translation has caught our imaginations the…

When Google Glass was released to the public in 2014, a lot of controversy ensued over privacy and safety concerns. When a piece of hardware obstructs your view with the data of strangers you share a sidewalk with, it isn’t hard to see how the device can feel a bit creepy to passersby. Thankfully, the…

3D Modeling is usually done on a 2D plain with a mouse, keyboard, gallon of coffee and a really big, FLAT screen, but that dissonance in dimensions is a user experience we’ve come to accept as normal. It’s just not right. Fortunately, More applications that get 3D models off the screen and into our environment…

There’s no denying that voice interfaces are the future of interaction design. Whether it’s through Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, or any number of chatbots and new AI technologies, ‘the invisible interface’ eschews screens in favor of speech to feed us information or take commands. Thankfully, affordable development boards like the Raspberry Pi have…

As futuristic as it sounds, we all knew that the day would come when all of our ‘smart’ wearables are embedded into … well, the things that we’re already wearing. While MIT students and various tinkerers have been experimenting with ‘smart’ fabrics for years now, few concepts have been viable enough to bubble up to…

Despite the plethora of apps and games that are slowly breaking down the barriers for learning how to code, one of the biggest remaining hurdles is as simple as they come: humans like to build stuff with their hands. As an open hardware platform to help developers, designers, and researchers build the next generation of…

Designed to allow devices to be customized for an individual’s own style and functional needs, Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone has been one of the more compelling pieces of hardware kit announced within the past few years. The platform, which allows users to swap out hardware components including high-resolution cameras, loudspeakers, different battery sizes and…

From Nintendo’s Virtual Boy in the distant past to the Oculus Rift now, VR has been sputtering into our future. This year however, is truly the year for VR (if there ever was one) with even more companies getting in on the advancements being made in replacing or augmenting our reality.

Since it was unveiled almost exactly one year ago, Google’s NYC-based 30 Weeks: A Founders Program for Designers incubator has been nothing short of a success story that even established design firms should probably take notes on. In collaboration with existing NYC design schools and institutions including Hyper Island, SVA, Parsons, Pratt, The Cooper Union…

For the past couple of years, the engineers at Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects Group (ATAP) have been heavily-focused on their 3D mapping technology in the form of Project Tango. The Android-based phone/tablet platform (which is still currently in prototype stage and available to some developers) is designed to create high-quality and accurate 3D maps…

Confirming rumors, SpaceX has announced that they will be receiving a hefty $900 million investment from Google to help push the internet into orbit with a myriad of satellites. At a valuation of $12 billion, Google would hold roughly 7.5% in the burgeoning space company, joining existing investors including Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners and…

Two years in, Google Glass has generated a lot of debate but very few sales. Yesterday, Google announced that it is ending sales of its consumer ‘Explorer’ model, amid leadership restructuring and a new focus on Enterprise solutions. This was not how it was supposed to be: Glass was created to revolutionize how we mere mortals…

For decades now, the performance of working with digital tools has been contingent on one’s hardware setup and needless to say, you got what you paid for (and still do). Adobe has been working on obliterating the need for expensive hardware as more services start operating out of the Cloud with the development of their…

Aiming to ‘give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion’, Google’s Project Tango has been met with enthusiasm from both developers and consumers alike since being announced in early 2014. While the device is aiming to be everything from a gaming system to a new take on the retail experience, the ability to…

It is only a concept design, but the strong renders and execution by designer Jorge Trevino Blanco will have you believe that you are really looking at an accessory for the Google GLASS. Say hello to the Google Draw Stylus Concept for GLASS.

We have already reported on Project Ara, Google’s Modular Phone here, so building a layer on the story, today we look at why this phone is a good idea. Last month, Google hosted its first Project Ara developer’s conference and gave out more information on the project. Presently, the Advanced Technologies and Products (ATAP) team…

We’ve seen concepts for modular smartphones come and go in the past few years, but a lot of information was left up in the air…such as why would you even need one and how much would it cost? Yesterday Google announced that they will be hosting the first Project Ara Developers’ Conference in April that…

Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on with Google Glass, one thing is for certain: it will most certainly come in handy at times. Google Glass user Todd Blatt recently used his Google Glass to capture photos hands-free at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. The photos were then sent to Autodesk’s 123D…

Missed the early adoption period for a Google Glass? Need to see how they frame your pretty mug without forking over the $$$? Sunny Gao, an entrepreneur from China, showed off his replica Google Glass during the the Global Hackathon this past weekend in Shanghai. He also uploaded the file for your 3D printing pleasure.

For designers, finding parts for a project can be a cumbersome experience. While McMaster-Carr and other part suppliers have convenient downloadable CAD models of their inventory, it can still be a time-sucker to search those inventories if you’re still in a conceptual stage. The new 3D Part Source search engine developed by 3D Industri.es aims…

In a recent TEDYouth talk, Tom Chi (Head of Special Projects at Google) spoke to wide-eyed young’uns about the process and theory behind developing a product experience for Google that overlays digital information and images onto the physical world.

Home-cooked meals are supposed to be special. They’re also supposed to be organic, free-range, cruelty-free, gourmet meals custom-made to suit your desires – because everyone’s picky. And why not? 3D Printing both the food and the preparation tools might just make that easier. Or sillier. We think we can have both. Remember the Burritobot? Printing…

Oleg is right. PLM should—and will—be like more like Google. Not in its color scheme, but in its openness, its neutrality, its acceptance of bits and bytes as data-for-data’s sake.

There were rumors floating around about the acquisition of Google SketchUp. It was thought the buyer may be Dassault Systemes. SpaceClaim was even in there at one point. Turns out that the acquisition rumor was true, but speculation on the buyer? Waaaaaay off. Today, Trimble, producers of advanced location-based hardware and software, announced they have…

If you’ve been anywhere besides knitting doilies, mulching a garden or knee deep in clam-chowder, you’ve likely heard, seen or felt the social repercussions of Google’s new network site, Google+. It’s more than a site though. It’s an extension of your Google profile (if you have one) and a supplement, or in some cases, a…

Of all the things that Google announced yesterday at the Google I/O developers conference, the one I find most exciting is their new Android Open Accessory standards and the Accessory Development Kit (ADK) that goes with it. The best nerdy part of this nerdy story is that the ADK is centered around the Arduino open…

If you’re familiar with the TED conference that highlights some good (and some not so good) “ideas worth spreading,” you’ll know how tough it is to get into the conference, not to mention their book club. That is unless you’re an inanimate piece of hardware showing off new tech at the conference. 3DConnexion got the…

3D… on the web. It’s here… again, but this time in fine Google form with all the openness you would expect from the crew. Tuesday, Google opened the gates on their interactive 3D graphics accelerator for web browsers, O3D. It’s a browser plug-in, complete with a fresh API for anyone interested to play with. For…

The Google I/O conference is in full swing with all sorts of goodies coming out. But, what’s really cool and going to affect how you view the world and map-based web apps in the future is the announcement of the Google Earth browser plugin. No longer will you be isolated to two dimensions of movement…