Google says future of web search will be like 'Star Trek'

What if saying “hey, computer” was all it’d take you to make your “searches” on Google each day? If Google’s Search Head Amit Singhal is to be believed, then the search giant is looking at building a “Star Trek” like computer that would let you do just that, ABC News reports. Singhal was at SXSW Interactive when he made the statement. He said, “The destiny of search is to become that ‘Star Trek’ computer and that’s what we are building.” Such a computer, according to him, would know what users are looking for and this way, they would not have to type in their queries in Google search. “You can walk up to a computer and say, hey, computer,” he added.

Understandably, to put such a system in place, they would need to incorporate other technologies like better voice control, touch and sensory tech, the report quoted Singhal as saying. 

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The future of web search

Does that ring a bell? When the trailer of Google Glass made it out, several of its enthusiasts saw how the wearer could instruct the Glass to, say, take a picture or record a video. By just instructing the Glass to do something, Google demonstrated the many ways in which users could include the Google Glass in their daily lives. While we do know that the wearer can take pictures and share them, the video gives you a peek into a whole gamut of opportunities. The video shows scenes and sights from the eyes (oops! the Google Glass) of the wearer, and while they go about doing things, they demonstrate the features of Google Glass. Like, you can instruct the Glass to click a picture of the scene in front of you or record a video, then if you choose, you share that with a friend or a relative. The wearer has to say “take a picture” to instruct the Glass to take a picture.

If Google does manage to incorporate the “Star Trek” computer-like capabilities in future Search, then it’d be interestingly futuristic. Despite making a headway into several segments, search continues to be a very important organ, so much so that it has even become synonymous with the word “search” for most of us. 

Late last year, Google even pumped some breathing space into the appearance of its search results. The appearance had been refreshed to focus more on answers that users are looking for, be it from web results or from a feature such as the Knowledge Graph. Users can find all the tools they are used to, right where they last saw them, and they can use “Search tools” to filter their results. As of now, the changes will reflect for Google users in the US; Google plans to take it to more regions and in more languages.