The world of Mobiles, Computers & Internet is growing at a crazy rate which is likely to only increase in future. The name that tops in the list of technology developers and researchers is undoubtedly of GOOGLE’S.
Today I am going to be sharing with you my list of top 10 strange & interesting google patents which may soon lead to creation of unique products & services.
1) Smart Sensor for ads
Our first pick is a patent about an additional sensor which could soon be present in mobile devices. As we all know google’s main business revenue is generated through ads shown on search results and various other associated platforms. To increase it’s profits and relevancy in ads delivery, google has developed a special sensor which can detect environmental conditions like temperature, humidity, air-composition, light or sound near a device.This could mean that if the sensor detects sound of rain then advertisement for umbrellas could be served. Such conditions then could be linked with keywords that advertisers decide to use and pay for.
2) Floating Data Center:
Next patent in our list is about floating data centers. With the increase in public use of internet, now with millions of people accessing the global internet as well as bandwidth demanded by each of the user, many information providers have started using data centers to provide their services. A data center is a facility that contains hundreds or even thousands of networked computers & associated components mounted on a large number of racks. Such units stay online throughout the clock, processing & storing enormous amount of collected data to provide various services to the user when required. For example, search engine results. Therefore, a usual data center requires as much electricity as a small town to operate hence, is expensive to maintain. In February of 2007, google filed a patent for a system which involves number of computing units mounted on a platform that can float over sea. Here the electricity required by facility is generated by converting wave energy of water into electrical energy. The cooling mechanism also, is based on & uses the sea-water to cool down computing units.
3) Projection Keyboard:
You might have seen pictures of similar devices before throughout the internet where you can project either keyboard or mouse or even entire display on any suitable surface and provide input to the device. Before the launch of Google Glass, it was speculated that the device would have this feature as an add-on. Now after feeling need for better input capability, google might soon bring a device or include it as a feature in next version of Glass using which you can project keyboard on your arms, wrist or on any surface and type.
The Keystrokes are detected by taking two different pictures of keyboard. While the first image (say A) is taken an I.R (Infrared) beam is projected on the keyboard & turned off while taking the second image (say B). Then Image B is subtracted from Image A to remove noise & detect a difference between images. The location where difference is found is associated with the keystroke. The location identified is compared with keyboard layout stored in memory to determine the key pressed.
4) Tattoo Microphone:
The next patent in our list is about an electronic skin tattoo that you can get yourself on your throat. This tattoo would be a completely conductive circuit with an embedded mic with which you can provide clearest & most accurate audio input to any nearby device.
It can also be designed to glow every time you speak or utter a word. It is being said that by combining this tattoo-circuit technology with few additional sensors, it can function like an actual lie detector.
5) The Heart Hand Gesture for Input :
In July of 2011, google filed a patent that enabled google glass users to take pictures of either objects or places they liked with Glass by just making hand heart before the object. Hand heart is a popular hand gesture forming an area bounded by the two hands in shape of symbolic heart .Google glass then would automatically recognize the object/person/place, take a picture and share it on social networks as a “liked” image as well archive it.
6) Pay per Gaze:
Nowadays whenever you browse through internet, chances are high that you might encounter lot of ads of different kind and nature. On a regular webpage, there may be multiple ads present. There can be one ad on top, one near bottom, one on right side or maybe left. Likewise on youtube where in addition to banners, video ads are also present (both skippable & non Skippable). Sometimes we end up paying attention to such ads & ignore them rest of the time. According to the next patent, google has a special sensor developed that can track eyes of a web page visitor & monitor their facial expressions to determine whether a user saw an advertisement, if yes then how much attention they paid to that particular advertisement or how appealing they found it to be.
This Special sensor can be embedded either in web cameras present in laptops, front camera in mobiles or in google glass. Google plans to add pay per gaze as an additional payment model for advertisers along PPC, ROAS and other existing models.
7) Street view walking stick:
The next patent by google is for a walking stick that has a camera on top of it which can capture 360 degree photos every time the stick hits the ground.
Google developed this project to be able to capture street view of terrains and areas such as hiking trails that are far beyond the reach of Google’s street view van.Earlier, street view for car free areas was captured with the help of tricycles or giant backpacks.
For ex. This is how google captured Grand Canyon.Compared to that, a walking stick would be certainly lighter.
8) Comic Strip for Updates:
Till now we’ve been sharing our updates on social media by creating posts that can be in form of text, image or videos. According to the next patent for which google filed in February 2010, soon enough we could be able to post a comic book like strip which can depict a small real-life conversation/situation.
The strip would be displayed / embedded on the social network without having to go to a separate site to view the strip.You can select a theme for your strip. After that you can give your strip a title & create a comic character to represent yourself with the help of a simplified user interface. There have to be at least two characters in the strip engaged in a conversation.
9) Virtual assistant for social Network:
By this, In near future you will have a virtual assistant which can post updates on social media on your behalf. It can also like,share or comment on posts created by your friends or anyone on present on social media.
For example, If one of your friends has shared a picture of their birthday celebration, you can automatically comment in the same reference on that post and send your wishes with the help of your virtual assistant without having to type anything manually.Though, it will always ask for your approval first before performing any action on social media.
10) Bill Split for parties :
For Every time you go out with friends either for a brunch or maybe a dinner, after all the fun part of chit-chatting & the meal itself, I am sure splitting the check can get a little complicated.
Well Google has got some good news for you. Our next patent is about a POS (Point of Sale) terminal that can calculate share for each individual and automatically charge them their amount. If one of the members pays the entire amount then the rightful share for each of the remaining pupil is automatically charged from their bank accounts or any e-wallet and is transferred to the one who cleared the check. You can even split the tip given to the waiter.
