Google’s Star Trek Communicator needs to be available

Google had actually made a Star Trek Communicator – a device that looks like a pin, but works like a smartwatch – and shelved it. Why they shelved it is understandable, but the question is: why didn’t they launch it? If Google were to list a Star Trek Communicator in the Devices section of the Google Play Store, everyone would have bought regardless of what its functions were or if it actually worked. I bet they would have sold out even if they were empty shells of toys, I sure would have bought them. Star Trek fans would have grabbed every single one of these pretty fast, seeing as collectibles’ culture is strong among them.

Apparently, Google had taken the Star Trek Communicator idea and refined it, designing a small pin that could fulfill functions similar to those seen in the series. Although Google’s Star Trek Communicator was purely a research project that never should have seen the consumer market, the beans have been spilled and I’m thinking of getting my hands on one of these prototypes somehow. The Google pin was a simple wearable concept that built upon what the Star Trek Communicator imagined and created a pin that could work like a voice assistant.

Well, not entirely like a voice assistant, but Google would have ended up with that if they had pursued the project. What they did was embedding a Bluetooth sensor and a microphone into a circular pin that could be used in the way in which the Star Trek Communicator was during the series. With a small touchpad and speaker also embedded in the circular device, Google’s smart pin was meant to be worn on the chest and would have been an early step towards health monitoring technology. As an early prototype of what we’re calling Google Now today, the Mountain View giant’s first attempt at a Star Trek Communicator device was rather impressive, taking voice search to new levels.

Unfortunately, the device’s development was halted and it was never revealed to the public. Apparently, the Star Trek Communicator never even made it to the testing phase, according to Amit Singhal, SVP and software engineer at Google in an interview with Time Magazine. He revealed that the smart pin would be activated once the touchpad was tapped, starting a voice recording process that was meant to be used for voice search. He didn’t reveal what went wrong, though.

Now, we have Google Now, Cortana, Siri and more, voice assistants who can search as much as you want them to. We have modern-day Star Trek Communicator devices, but instead of being worn on the chest, they’re worn on our wrists. So it’s definitely not that hard to manufacture. As long as we keep it simple, we could even DIY our own communicator. Our guess is that Google’s prototype was first designed at least 5 years ago, and we have a hunch that the hype around it is gaining steam for a reason. I bet Google is going to release this, and it’s going to be Star Trek merch. I want to buy it, but I would go to $100, depending on what it can do. If it performs searches for me through a tethered smartphone and dictates them back, I can do $70. If it adds a small headphone, like the Motorola Hint, I’ll do $100. How much would you pay for a working Star Trek Communicator? Would you try to DIY it?