Google made a real-life Star Trek communicator

Google’s communicator device only ever entered the testing phase, so don’t expect to see one anytime soon as the company has not announced any plans to release the device.

Back in July, we brought you the news of a “real life” Star Trek Communicator that was patterned after the prop used in Star Trek: The Original Series. “I always wanted that pin”, Singhal said to Time. By tapping the Google communicator, a person could tell it to search for something and it will relay the message to a mobile device. “That’s why we were like, ‘Let’s go prototype that and see how it feels.'” The report doesn’t say why the device never turned into a fully fledged product. The black circular wearable features a speaker, microphone, power light and what’s likely a button of a few sort under Singhal’s fingers to activate communications. The idea behind the chest worn Google pin was to make search more convenient, rather than as a “communicator” tool, but the device could be used for communications and shared many other characteristics with the iconic Star Trek accessory. “You just ask it anything and it works”.

Google’s pin is part of an ongoing project to better understand how people use voice-activated searches.

It is well known that Google engineers have maintained a long-running obsession with Star Trek and the Enterprise computer. It inspired one Google executive to built a prototype. The device, which could output sound through a speaker or accompanying headphones, allows users to talk to Google without having to fish out their cell phones.