Google made a 'Star Trek'-inspired wearable - and then killed it

Google once built, and then killed, a "Star Trek"-inspired wearable, senior vice president of search Amit Singhal told TIME Magazine in an interview.

Singhal told TIME that he had "always wanted the pin" that Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the character played by Patrick Stewart, wore in the series and so Google built it. "You just ask it anything and it works. That's why we were like, 'Let's go prototype that and see how it feels,'" he said.

The device, which has never been discussed publicly, was activated with a single tap and could be used to give voice commands to an Android phone.

The device was later killed but Singhal didn't give a reason why.

According to TIME, Google regularly cites "Star Trek" and the film "Her" as its goal for building wearables that are activated purely by voice.