At I/O 2024, Google made lots of exciting AI announcements—but one that has everyone talking is Project Astra. Essentially, Project Astra is what Google is calling an "advanced seeing and talking responsive agent." This means that a future Google AI will be able to get context from what's around you and you can ask a question and get a response in real time. It's almost like an amped-up version of Google Lens.
Project Astra is being developed by Google's DeepMind team, which is on a mission to build AI that can responsibly benefit humanity; this project is just one of the ways it's doing so. Google says that Project Astra is built upon its Gemini 1.5 Pro, which has gained improvements in areas such as translation, coding, reasoning and more. As part of this project, Google says they've developed prototype AI agents that can process information even faster by continuously encoding video frames and combining video and speech input into a timeline of events. The company is also using their speech models to enhance how its AI agents sound, for a wider range of intonations.
Google released a two-part demo video to show off how Project Astra works. The first half of the video shows Project Astra running on a Google Pixel phone; the latter half shows the new AI running on a prototype glasses device.
In the demo video, we can see the user using their Pixel phone with a camera viewfinder open and moving their device around the room while asking the next-generation Gemini AI assistant, "Tell me when you see something that makes sound" and the AI responding by pointing out the speaker on the desk. Other examples in the video include asking what a part of the code on a computer screen does, what city neighborhood they're currently in and coming up with a band name for a dog and its toy tiger.
While it will be a long time before we see this next-generation AI from Project Astra coming to our daily lives, it's still quite cool to see what the future holds.
After Reddit results started disappearing from search engines not named Google last week, the company has finally come forward to explain why, essenti
As companies continue to push AI as anything from a web designer to the equivalent of a whole film studio, one of its more tried-and-true use cases ha
Build your best home ever with everything from smart home tech to gaming dens to home theaters. So, you’re thinking of maybe getting a security camera
If you just bought an iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro, congratulations! Apple Intelligence isn't here yet, but your new iPhone comes with some stellar came
You've now got more options when it comes to giving your Spotify playlist artwork a personalized touch: A new custom cover art tool is rolling out ins
Update 10/31/2024: It's now nearing the end of October, and Windows Insider testers still have yet to get access to Recall, Microsoft's controversial
We are a dynamic information platform dedicated to delivering timely, relevant, and reliable content across a broad spectrum of topics. From the latest in technology and business to lifestyle, health, and global affairs, we aim to keep our readers informed and inspired.
Our editorial team is committed to maintaining high standards of accuracy and clarity, ensuring that every article provides value and context in an ever-changing world. We believe in the importance of accessible knowledge and strive to make complex topics understandable for everyone.
Whether you're here to stay updated on current events, explore thought-provoking features, or simply learn something new, our goal is to offer a trustworthy source of information that meets the needs of a diverse and curious audience.