Technology giant Google has wowed a Perth audience with a glimpse of products to come, including high-altitude balloons that connect people in remote areas to the internet.
Dylan Lorimer, the head of Google Maps, told an American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) event on Friday that the world's third biggest firm was in a constant cycle of innovation, taking ideas from "the bottom up".
"If you have an idea, you have an avenue to get that idea pitched," Mr Lorimer said.
Employees might devote a day a month to a new concept, which evolves into a spin-off company that becomes their full time job.
Among the most experimental concepts in Google's development pipeline is Project Loon, a network of balloons travelling on the edge of space, filling in internet coverage gaps and bringing people back online after disasters.
The project began as an experimental pilot in June, with 30 balloons launched from New Zealand's South Island.
They floated in the stratosphere, twice as high as airplanes and above the weather.
The signal bounced from balloon to balloon, then down to earth, where people connected to the network using a special antenna attached to their building.
Results from the pilot are now being used to refine the technology and shape the next phase of the project.
And building on Google's existing investments in wind power, the company is also considering somehow launching turbines into the air, which would be connected to the ground by cables.
The idea is that they can be moved and deployed to wherever electricity is needed.
If these projects seem unlikely, consider how outlandish Google Glass appeared when it was first unveiled: a transparent digital display on your glasses that takes photos, translates your voice into other languages, provides directions and tells you what you're looking at.
Google glasses are available now to US residents who are selected for the company's "Explorer" pilot program.
"All of our services should work seamlessly on things like Google Glass and wearable technology - that's just the trend, ensuring that Google as a platform company can reach all of our users, providing services wherever you may be," Mr Lorimer said.
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