Google develops Star Trek style communicator device

Google has developed a prototype wearable device inspired by the communicator in Star Trek series which can allow users to leave their phones in their pocket and hear responses through wireless headphones.

In the Star Trek science fiction, Captain Picard and his crew used their lapel pins to talk to the artificial intelligence and crew onboard the Starship Enterprise.

The device developed by Google is circular in shape and has a built-in microphone and Bluetooth allowing it to connect to a smartphone, Amit Singhal, senior vice president and the executive in charge of Google's search initiatives, told Time magazine.

The prototype is intended to test out how users might interact with voice search in new ways.

Worn on the chest, the Google pin is activated with a light tap. The prototype might output sound through an onboard speaker or by connecting to headphones.

The idea was to make it easier for people to query to Google without having to take out their cell phones.

"I always wanted that pin. You just ask it anything and it works. That's why we were like, 'Let's go prototype that and see how it feels'," Singhal said.

The search giant is trying to redefine the way people access information through voice search, which is getting more adept at understanding natural language.