Q42 goes Google I/O

Google I/O just wrapped up — and we had front row seats this year! On the third floor of Moscone Center, we had a huge Hue booth set up together with Philips.

We had a premier spot so we could extensively tell people about our experiences using the Google Cloud Platform. Especially hooking up the Philips Hue light bulbs to the internet was an interesting showcase because it demonstrates how you can use the Google Cloud to power your Internet of Things devices. We were very proud to be on the otherwise Google-only floor, amongst high-profile projects like Android Auto, Project Tango and Nest.

In line with the premier spot that Google gave us, we got an early opportunity to create an Android Wear app with which the Philips Hue lightbulbs could be controlled. We finished it in time for I/O and it got a lot of attention. We got high marks from the Wear team for the app’s interaction design and technical implementation. From July 7th, when the Android Wear store launches, you can try it out on your own Wear device.

Philips brought along a humongous kaleidoscope that dropped quite a few jaws! On several occasions visitors would stand hypnotized, looking at the animating color circles. Of course the kaleidoscope was also made interactive using the Hue API. An Android tablet provided an interface to add your own colored ripples to the effect.

The booth attracted a tremendous amount of visitors. Fellow nerds wanted to know how we created the cloud, or how they could create their own apps using the Philips Hue API. Non-techies were also drawn to the booth, mainly by the bright lights, aka the Moth Effect. Several people that saw the Philips Hue light bulbs in action for the first time decided to dive right in and pay the Apple Store across the street a visit to pick up their own starter kit.

All in all we had lots of fun, met awesome and inspiring people and learned a ton of interesting things! Keep an eye out on our blog for more updates on some of the things we learned.