Google's Project Loon Exceeds Expectations, Worldwide Broadband Connection Closer To Reality

It was back in 2013 that Google’s R&D division conducted the first test of its Project Loon initiative, where the goal basically involves launching hundreds of giant balloons all over the world to provide internet connection to areas that don’t have access to the World Wide Web. The company’s X division recently announced that it found a way to make this process much more efficient, which drastically reduces the number of balloons needed. In turn, Project Loon is now closer to becoming reality.

One of the biggest obstacles to making something like Project Loon an actual marketable concept is the matter of costs and resources. Launching hundreds of gigantic balloons all over the world is not only a huge undertaking, maintenance would be a financial nightmare. In a recent blog post, Project Loon head Astro Teller writes that this problem has been addressed.

Basically, the new development involves the project’s artificial intelligence being more intelligent than the researchers anticipated. As a result, it actually learned to ride air currents in a way that allows them to stay afloat for much longer. This, in turn, will allow Google to cut down the number of balloons needed to cover an area, from hundreds to a few dozen at the most.

“Project Loon’s algorithms can now send small teams of balloons to form a cluster over a specific region where people need internet access,” the post reads. “This is a shift from our original model for Loon in which we planned to create rings of balloons sailing around the globe, and balloons would take turns moving through a region to provide service.”

The importance of this development for Google simply can’t be understated. As Bloomberg notes, even though so much attention is being directed at the project, it hasn’t been able to produce anything concrete in terms of profitability. Now, the tech giant might be able to start making money off of the initiative in a few years.