The Fiction of Science: Google Creative Lab

Robert Wong, a member of the Google Creative Lab, discusses why science fiction is necessary to influence the future of scientific development. Wong shares his personal story of helping with the story of a product that became Google Glass. And the influence of the Star Trek communicator on Motorola’s development of the first mobile phone. The connection between the art side and the tech side can result in amazing, inspired inventions.

Wong’s view on invention and innovation and the ties to great science fiction aligns with those of MIT researchers, who, in an article in The Atlantic, argue that the fictional worlds invented by science fiction authors can help not only with developing new technologies but also to understand the consequences of those technologies in the real world.