Google's Lost Treasure Trove of Creative Projects Uncovered
Google's Experiments with Google hub was a treasure trove of creative ideas that ran for 14 years, generating hundreds of innovative projects. Although it has been replaced by Google Labs, its legacy lives on as an archive of all 1,605 experiments.
Among the many fascinating projects, five standout experiments caught the author's attention: Song Maker, Radio Garden, Quick, Draw, Cultural Crossword, and Fabricius.
Song Maker is a music composition tool that allows users to create music by clicking on a grid of instruments. With options ranging from piano to synth and woodwind, it's an intuitive way to experiment with different sounds. Users can even connect electronic keyboards or sing into their microphone.
Radio Garden is a digital globe that lets users navigate through thousands of radio stations worldwide. The selection is diverse and eclectic, making it impossible to get bored. However, UK listeners are limited to local streams due to legal restrictions.
Quick, Draw is a Pictionary-style game where players draw objects within a 20-second timeframe while a neural network tries to guess what they're sketching. This AI-powered tool was built to aid machine learning and has been played by over 15 million users.