Category Archives: Google Developers Blog

News and insights on Google platforms, tools and events

Welcoming our inaugural Google for Startups Accelerator: Cloud North America cohort

Posted by Ashley Francisco Head of Startup Ecosystem, North America, Google & Darren Mowry, Managing Director, Corporate Sales, Google

We’re kicking off a summer of accelerators by welcoming the inaugural 2023 North American Google for Startups Accelerator: Cloud cohort, our new class of cloud-native startups in the United States and Canada.

This 10-week virtual accelerator brings the best of Google's programs, products, people and technology to startups doing interesting work in the cloud. We’re excited to offer these startups cloud mentorship and technical project support, along with deep dives and workshops on product design, customer acquisition and leadership development for technology startup founders and leaders.

We heard from some of the founders from this year’s cohort - including New York City-based Harmonic Discovery, Toronto-based Oncoustics, and Vancouver-based OneCup AI - demonstrating how they are using Google Cloud data, analytics, AI, and other technologies across healthcare, agriculture and farming, and more. Read more on their aspirations for the program below:


"The team at Harmonic Discovery is excited to scale our deep learning infrastructure for drug discovery using Google Cloud. We also want to learn best practices from the Google team on training and developing machine learning models in a cost effective way.” – Rayees Rahman CEO, Harmonic Discovery


"We're very excited to grow our presence in the healthcare space by bringing our ultrasound based "virtual biopsy" solutions to clinics and serve over 2B people with liver diseases globally. Specifically in the Google for Startups Accelerator: Cloud program, we're looking to develop and hone our ability to efficiently scale our ML environments and processes to support the development of multiple new diagnostic products in parallel. We're also very excited about creating an edge-cloud hybrid solution with effective distribution of AI processing across GCP and Pixel 7 Pro.” – Beth Rogozinski CEO, Oncoustics


"Our primary objective is to leverage Google Cloud Platform's (GCP) cutting-edge technologies to enhance BETSY, our computer vision AI for animal care. Our milestones include developing advanced image recognition models and achieving real-time processing speeds for large-scale datasets. The accelerator will play a vital role in helping us refine our algorithms and optimize our infrastructure on GCP.” – Mokah Shmigelsly, Co-Founder & CEO and Geoffrey Shmigelsky, Co-Founder & CTO, OneCup AI


We received so many great applications for this program and we're excited to welcome the 12 startups that make up the the inaugural North American Cloud cohort:

  • Aiden Automotive (San Ramon, CA): Aiden is one of the first software solutions to provide streaming two-way communication directly with the vehicle and across vehicle brands. Aiden provides simple and intuitive 100% GDPR and CCPA compliant consent management, enabling car owners to choose which digital services they desire.
  • Binarly (Santa Monica, CA): Binarly’s agentless, enterprise-class AI-powered firmware security platform helps protect from advanced threats below the operating system. The company’s technology solves firmware supply chain security problems by identifying vulnerabilities, malicious firmware modifications and providing firmware SBOM visibility without access to the source code. Binarly’s cloud-agnostic solutions give enterprise security teams actionable insights, and reduce the cost and time to respond to security incidents.
  • Duality.ai (San Mateo, CA): Duality AI is an augmented digital twin platform that provides end-to-end workflows for predictive simulation and high fidelity visualization. The platform helps close data gaps for machine learning teams working on perception problems and helps robotics teams speed up design and validation of their autonomy software.
  • HalloAI (Provo, UT): Hallo is an AI-powered language learning platform for speaking. Press a button and start speaking any language with an AI teacher in 3 seconds.
  • Harmonic Discovery (New York, NY): Harmonic Discovery uses machine learning to design multi-targeted kinase drugs for cancer and autoimmune diseases.
  • MLtwist (Santa Clara, CA): MLtwist helps companies bring AI to the world faster. It gives data scientists and ML engineers access to the easiest and best way to get out of the weeds of data pipelines and back to what they enjoy and do best – design, build, and deploy AI.
  • Oncoustics (Toronto, ON): Oncoustics is creating advanced solutions for low-cost and non-invasive surveillance, diagnostics, and treatment monitoring of diseases with high unmet clinical need through the use of patented AI-based solutions running on ultrasound scans. Using a handheld point of care ultrasound, Oncoustics’ first solution allows clinicians to obtain a liver health assessment within 5 minutes.
  • OneCup AI (Vancouver, BC): OneCup uses Computer vision for Animal Care. Our AI, BETSY, is the eyes of the rancher when the rancher is away.
  • Passio AI (Menlo Park, CA): Passio AI is a mobile AI platform that helps developers and companies build mobile applications powered by expert-level AI and computer vision.
  • RealKey (San Francisco, CA): RealKey is one of the first collaboration platforms built specifically for finance (starting with mortgages), automating documentation collection/review, tasks, and communication for all parties (not just borrowers) involved in transactions to reduce time, effort, and costs to close.
  • Sevco Security Inc. (Austin, TX): Sevco Security a leading IT asset visibility and cybersecurity company, that provides the industry’s first unified asset intelligence platform designed to address the new extended attack surface and create a trusted data repository of all devices, users and applications an organization uses.
  • VESSL AI (San Jose, CA): VESSL is an end-to-end MLOps platform aiming to be the next Snowflake for AI. The platform enables MLEs to run ML workloads at any scale on any cloud, such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud, and on-premises.

As tech advancements continue at lightning speed, it’s an exciting opportunity to work with these founders and startup teams to help grow and scale their business. Programming for the Google for Startups Accelerator: Cloud begins mid-July and we can’t wait to see how far these startups go!

A Look Back at LA #TechWeek OneGoogle Panel: Building a Startup Using Generative AI

Posted by Alexandra Dumas, Head of VC & Startup Partnerships, West Coast, Google

Earlier this month, LA TechWeek hosted an array of thought leaders and innovative minds in the tech industry. As the Head of VC & Startup Partnerships West Coast at Google, I had the privilege of curating and facilitating an insightful panel event, supported by Google Cloud for Startups, on the topic of "Building with Generative AI" with representatives from:

Google Venice Tech Week Panel

Our conversation was as rich in depth as it was in diversity; heightening the LA community's collective excitement for the future of generative AI, and underscoring Google's vision of harnessing the power of collaboration to ignite innovation in the tech startup space. The collaborative event was a unique platform that bridged the gap between startups, venture capitalists, and major players in the tech industry. It was the embodiment of Google's commitment to driving transformative change by fostering robust partnerships with VC firms and startups: We understand that the success of startups is crucial to our communities, economies, and indeed, to Google itself.

Josh Gwyther, Generative AI Global Lead for Google Cloud, kicked things off by tracing Google's impressive journey in AI, shedding light on how we've pioneered in creating transformative AI models, a journey that started back in 2017 with the landmark Transformer whitepaper.

From X, Clarence Wooten elevated our perception of AI's potential, painting an exciting picture of AI as a startup's virtual "co-founder." He powerfully encapsulated AI's role in amplifying, not replacing, human potential, a testament to Google's commitment to AI and its impact.

Venturing into the world of gaming, Andreessen Horowitz's Andrew Chen predicted a revolution in game development driven by generative AI. He saw a future where indie game developers thrived, game types evolved, and the entire gaming landscape shifted, all propelled by generative AI's transformative power.

On the investment side of things, Darian Shirazi from Gradient Ventures shared insights on what makes an excellent AI founder, emphasizing trustworthiness, self-learning, and resilience as critical traits.

Google Venice Tech Week Panel

The panel discussion concluded with a deep dive into the intricacies of integrating AI and scalability, the challenges of GPUs/TPUs, and the delicate balance between innovation and proprietary data concerns.

Founders were also left with actionable information around the Google for Cloud Startups Program, which provides startup experts, cloud credits, and technical training to begin their journey on Google Cloud cost-free, with their focus squarely on innovation and growth. We invite all eligible startups to apply as we continue this journey together.

As the curtains fell on LA TechWeek, we were left with more than just a feeling of optimism about the future of generative AI. We walked away with new connections, fresh perspectives, and a renewed conviction that Google, along with startups, investors, and partners, can lead the transformative change that the future beckons. The main takeaway: The AI revolution isn't coming; it's here. And Google, with its deep expertise and unwavering dedication to innovation, is committed to moving forward boldly, responsibly, and in partnership with others.

Google Venice Tech Week Audience

As we navigate this thrilling journey, I look forward to continuing to collaborate with startups, investors, and partners, leveraging the vast potential of AI to unlock a future where technology serves us all in unimaginable ways.

#WeArePlay | Meet the people creating apps and games in Europe

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing

Last summer #WeArePlay went on a virtual tour of the U.S. to spotlight the stories of app and game founders from every state, and earlier this year we visited India sharing stories from across the country. Today, we’re continuing our tour across the world with our next stop: Europe. From an app increasing independence for the elderly to a game for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, meet the founders of 126 apps and games companies building growing businesses on Google Play.

Let’s take a quick road trip across the region, with stories of founders that were inspired to create their company to help others around them.

A man smiling with his hands crossed over indoors with a blurred background
Geert, cofounder of Cubigo

Increasing independence for elderly people

First up is Geert from Belgium, who is the founder of Cubigo. When Geert’s grandmother moved into a nursing home, managing her care felt overwhelming so he used his experience from working in tech to create his app. It’s aimed at elderly people - they can use it to book taxis, days out, order food, schedule appointments and message friends. Family and nursing staff can also stay updated with their plans and activities, so they can provide better assistance. His aim is to give elderly people independence, and Geert hopes Cubigo will become a global player in senior care. Read more stories from Belgium.

Two men stood side-by-side outside with a house in the background
Zafer and Sercan, co-founders of Otsimo

Games designed for children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Next up are friends and co-founders Zafer and Sercan from Turkey, who co-founded gaming company Otsimo. As a teen, Zafer got inspiration to create mobile tools for kids with learning difficulties by seeing his autistic brother enjoy playing on his phone. Fast forward to his college years, Zafer and his course mate Sercan made a series of apps aimed at children with delayed speech and developmental disorders. The first, created alongside special needs experts, was Otsimo | Special Education which can be tailored to the individual's requirements. Their apps use voice recognition and machine learning to help children improve their speech, cognitive and social skills, with rewards and stickers to keep it fun. The Otsimo team have just launched a fully customizable Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) app for non-verbal people of all ages. Read more stories from Turkey.

A couple taking a selfie outdoors surrounded by greenery
Maxence and Oxana, co-founders of Appsent

Making home management and cleaning easier for everyone

Last but not least, we have Maxence and Oxana from France, co-founders of Appsent. Maxence and Oxana struggled to keep their house clean when they were both working from home. Sweepy is their solution – it’s a smart home cleaning schedule that assigns household tasks on particular days and for particular people. The couple are really proud that their app has been downloaded by lots of people with autism and ADHD, who tell them that it helps them to manage their homes. They are now developing a points and rewards feature, to try to encourage children to get involved in the housework too. Read more stories from France.

Discover more #WeArePlay stories from Europe, and stories from across the globe.



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Apply now: Google for Startups Accelerator launches applications for 4th Annual Women Founders and Black Founders cohorts

Posted by Iran Karimian, Startup Ecosystem Lead, Canada & Matt Ridenour, Head of Startup Ecosystem, U.S.

Applications for the 2023 Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders and Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders are now open. Check out what our alumni founders had to say about past programs:

As tech entrepreneurs continue to drive innovation with fresh ideas and new applications of AI and machine-learning technologies, it’s an exciting time for the tech startup ecosystem. But the headwinds of the 2022 investment climate have created a steep uphill climb for founders looking for funding, and underrepresented founders continue to face even greater structural barriers to getting their businesses off the ground.

While the recent economic downturn has impacted startups across the board, it has disproportionately affected startups helmed by women and Black founders, with women-founded startups receiving only ~2.1% of total U.S. VC funding, and Black-founded startups receiving only ~1.1% of U.S. VC funding in 2022.

Google for Startups is committed to leveling the playing field for all founders, and today we’re excited to open applications for our 2023 Google for Startups Accelerator: Women Founders and Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders cohorts. We’ll select twelve startups across North America to participate in each program. These virtual accelerator programs are equity-free, three-month intensive bootcamps, giving founders the tools they need to prepare for the next phase of their growth journey.

Participating startups will receive mentorship and technical project support, as well as workshops focused on product design, customer acquisition, and leadership development. In addition to guidance from leaders and experts across Google product areas, each accelerator offers a cohort of peers building high potential startups who support one another with shared learnings, insights and opportunities.

We hope that these accelerator programs contribute to the ongoing effort in creating a more inclusive and equitable tech startup ecosystem for underrepresented founders. Startups in the U.S. and Canada are encouraged to apply. For the Google for Startup Accelerator: Women Founders program, apply here by July 25 and for Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders, apply here by August 2.

Project GameFace makes gaming accessible to everyone

Posted by Avneet Singh, Product Manager and Sisi Jin, UX Designer, Google PI, and Lance Carr, Collaborator

At I/O 2023, Google launched Project Gameface, an open-source, hands-free gaming ‘mouse’ enabling people to control a computer's cursor using their head movement and facial gestures. People can raise their eyebrows to click and drag, or open their mouth to move the cursor, making gaming more accessible.

The project was inspired by the story of quadriplegic video game streamer Lance Carr, who lives with muscular dystrophy, a progressive disease that weakens muscles. And we collaborated with Lance to bring Project Gameface to life. The full story behind the product is available on the Google Keyword blog here.

It’s been an extremely interesting experience to think about how a mouse cursor can be controlled in such a novel way. We conducted many experiments and found head movement and facial expressions can be a unique way to program the mouse cursor. MediaPipe’s new Face Landmarks Detection API with blendshape option made this possible as it allows any developer to leverage 478 3-dimensional face landmarks and 52 blendshape scores (coefficients representing facial expression) to infer detailed facial surfaces in real-time.


Product Construct and Details

In this article, we share technical details of how we built Project Gamefaceand the various open source technologies we leveraged to create the exciting product!


Using head movement to move the mouse cursor


Moving image showing how the user controls cursor speed
Caption: Controlling head movement to move mouse cursors and customizing cursor speed to adapt to different screen resolutions.

Through this project, we explored the concept of using the head movement to be able to move the mouse cursor. We focused on the forehead and iris as our two landmark locations. Both forehead and iris landmarks are known for their stability. However, Lance noticed that the cursor didn't work well while using the iris landmark. The reason was that the iris may move slightly when people blink, causing the cursor to move unintendedly. Therefore, we decided to use the forehead landmark as a default tracking option.

There are instances where people may encounter challenges when moving their head in certain directions. For example, Lance can move his head more quickly to the right than left. To address this issue, we introduced a user-friendly solution: separate cursor speed adjustment for each direction. This feature allows people to customize the cursor's movement according to their preferences, facilitating smoother and more comfortable navigation.

We wanted the experience to be as smooth as a hand held controller. Jitteriness of the mouse cursor is one of the major problems we wanted to overcome. The appearance of cursor jittering is influenced by various factors, including the user setup, camera, noise, and lighting conditions. We implemented an adjustable cursor smoothing feature to allow users the convenience of easily fine-tuning this feature to best suit their specific setup.


Using facial expressions to perform mouse actions and keyboard press

Very early on, one of our primary insights was that people have varying comfort levels making different facial expressions. A gesture that comes easily to one user may be extremely difficult for another to do deliberately. For instance, Lance can move his eyebrows independently with ease while the rest of the team struggled to match Lance’s skill. Hence, we decided to create a functionality for people to customize which expressions they used to control the mouse.

Moving image showing how the user controls the cursor using their facial expressions
Caption: Using facial expressions to control mouse

Think of it as a custom binding of a gesture to a mouse action. When deliberating about which mouse actions should the product cover, we tried to capture common scenarios such as left and right click to scrolling up and down. However, using the head to control mouse cursor movement is a different experience than the conventional manner. We wanted to give the users the option to reset the mouse cursor to the center of the screen using a facial gesture too.

Moving image showing how the user controls the keyboard using their facial expressions
Caption: Using facial expressions to control keyboard

The most recent release of MediaPipe Face Landmarks Detection brings an exciting addition: blendshapes output. With this enhancement, the API generates 52 face blendshape values which represent the expressiveness of 52 facial gestures such as raising left eyebrow or mouth opening. These values can be effectively mapped to control a wide range of functions, offering users expanded possibilities for customization and manipulation.

We’ve been able to extend the same functionality and add the option for keyboard binding too. This helps use their facial gestures to also press some keyboard keys in a similar binding fashion.


Set Gesture Size to see when to trigger a mouse/keyboard action


Moving image showing setting the gesture size to trigger an action
Caption: Set the gesture size to trigger an action

While testing the software, we found that facial expressions were more or less pronounced by each of us, so we’ve incorporated the idea of a gesture size, which allows people to control the extent to which they need to gesture to trigger a mouse action. Blendshapes coefficients were helpful here and different users can now set different thresholds on each specific expression and this helps them customize the experience to their comfort.


Keeping the camera feed available

Another key insight we received from Lance was gamers often have multiple cameras. For our machine learning models to operate optimally, it’s best to have a camera pointing straight to the user’s face with decent lighting. So we’ve incorporated the ability for the user to select the correct camera to help frame them and give the most optimal performance.

Our product's user interface incorporates a live camera feed, providing users with real-time visibility of their head movements and gestures. This feature brings several advantages. Firstly, users can set thresholds more effectively by directly observing their own movements. The visual representation enables informed decisions on appropriate threshold values. Moreover, the live camera feed enhances users' understanding of different gestures as they visually correlate their movements with the corresponding actions in the application. Overall, the camera feed significantly enhances the user experience, facilitating accurate threshold settings and a deeper comprehension of gestures.


Product Packaging

Our next step was to create the ability to control the mouse and keyboard using our custom defined logic. To enable mouse and keyboard control within our Python application, we utilize two libraries: PyAutoGUI for mouse control and PyDirectInput for keyboard control. PyAutoGUI is chosen for its robust mouse control capabilities, allowing us to simulate mouse movements, clicks, and other actions. On the other hand, we leverage PyDirectInput for keyboard control as it offers enhanced compatibility with various applications, including games and those relying on DirectX.

For our application packaging, we used PyInstaller to turn our Python-based application into an executable, making it easier for users to run our software without the need for installing Python or additional dependencies. PyInstaller provides a reliable and efficient means to distribute our application, ensuring a smooth user experience.

The product introduces a novel form factor to engage users in an important function like handling the mouse cursor. Making the product and its UI intuitive and easy to follow was a top priority for our design and engineering team. We worked closely with Lance to incorporate his feedback into our UX considerations, and we found CustomtKinter was able to handle most of our UI considerations in Python.

We’re excited to see the potential of Project GameFace and can’t wait for developers and enterprises to leverage it to build new experiences. The code for GameFace is open sourced on Github here.


Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the following people to this project: Lance Carr, David Hewlett, Laurence Moroney, Khanh LeViet, Glenn Cameron, Edwina Priest, Joe Fry, Feihong Chen, Boon Panichprecha, Dome Seelapun, Kim Nomrak, Pear Jaionnom, Lloyd Hightower

Google I/O Extended watch parties & upcoming meetups

Posted by Komal Sandhu - Global Program Manager, Google Developer Groups

On May 10, 2023, Google developer communities around the world gathered virtually and in person at watch parties to watch the live streamed Google I/O flagship event, where Google shares its latest developer solutions, products, and technology. The excitement continues during Google I/O Extended season, happening now.

Members of GDG Zurich having fun at Google I/O Extended Watch party.
GDG Zurich

Google I/O Extended is the community-led counterpart to Google I/O–a series of community-led watch parties and tech meetups, in which developers around the globe connect in their local communities to learn about new releases, share thoughts, and celebrate. At Google I/O Extended events, city-based groups of developers celebrate together, discuss their expectations and the opportunities that Google’s new technologies will bring, and make meaningful connections with other developers. It’s inspiring to see people with the same passion for technology meet, learn, and have fun together all over the world.

Panoramic photo of GDG Istanbul members having fun at Google I/O Extended Watch party.
GDG Istanbul

The Google I/O Extended season runs from May through August, so there’s still plenty of time to attend multiple events near you, and virtual ones. So far, we’ve reached about 5k developers at over 150 events worldwide. Google I/O Extended fuels local developer communities and inspires those who participate to continue exploring their tech career paths.

Members of GDG Grand Rapids having fun at Google I/O Extended Watch party.
GDG Grand Rapids

Google I/O Extended still has much more to offer, and we’re excited about all of the upcoming meetups taking place around the world. Google Developer Experts will join many of these events to bring Google I/O content to local audiences and help attendees learn about and dive deeper into Google’s products.

Members of GDG Cloud London having fun at Google I/O Extended Watch party.
GDG Cloud London

We thank everyone who has participated in Google I/O Extended so far and hope you continue to enjoy the season. If you haven’t participated in Google I/O Extended yet, we encourage you to join any of the events near you and take advantage of this opportunity to learn and connect! Find a nearby Google I/O Extended meetup here.

Members of GDSC Arab Open University - ElShorouk having fun at Google I/O Extended Watch party.
GDSC Arab Open University - ElShorouk

How Google Enables Experts To Innovate Developer Tools From Food To Music

Posted by Lyanne Alfaro, DevRel Program Manager, Google Developer Studio

Developer Journey is a monthly series highlighting diverse and global developers sharing relatable challenges, opportunities, and wins in their journey. Every month, we will spotlight developers around the world, the Google tools they leverage, and the kind of products they are building.

This month we hear from developers who are Google Developer Experts and former Google Developer Student Clubs members building tools to enhance food delivery, developer playgrounds, and even real-time BPM counters for DJs. We also ask our community members about the role of allyship during Pride Month.

Yves Kalume

Headshot of Yves Kalume smiling
Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo
Google Developer Expert, Android
GDSC Alumni
Android Developer

What was your experience with Google Developer Student Clubs like and how did it help you get to where you are today?

For me, GDSC was a kind of starting point for this adventure. As an introvert, I initially struggled to connect with others, but being part of a larger group motivated me to step out of my comfort zone. I gained confidence in myself and my ability to make a positive impact on others.

What I love most about Google Communities is the emphasis on human relationships. Collaborating with other leads and learning from one another is integral to driving our communities forward. Even now, I enjoy the ongoing exchange among alumni.

Which tool has been your favorite? Why?

I'm an Android Developer by profession and I use Google tools on a day-to-day basis, starting from AndroidX libraries, Google Play Services, Jetpack Compose and more. At a company where I worked previously, I spent a lot of time working with Firebase and Google Cloud.

What Google tools have you used to build?

Jetpack Compose is hands down my favorite tool to build an Android app since it provides an intuitive way of building a user interface that saves me time and effort. Before that, I was not really friends with UI designers. Creating UI was a chore, but Jetpack Compose is a game-changer.

Tell us about something you've built in the past using Google tools.

I’ve been working on an application called Be Served at Zx Connect. The goal is to make life easier for users by offering services like goods and food delivery.

The app is entirely written in Kotlin and uses modern tools like Jetpack Compose, architecture components, and Google Cloud Platform, which help us build scalable solutions. They easily improve and add features based on customers’ feedback.

What advice would you give someone starting in their developer journey?

The first step is often the hardest. The best way to persevere is to find people who are like you, who have been where you are and who can inspire you. The best place to be is in a developer community by attending meetups and being active.

Another important piece of advice is to find a specific area and focus on it. Practice is the best way to understand a concept; learn by doing, and never neglect basics.

Becoming a better developer takes time and effort: stay passionate and trust the process.

What is the role of allyship in the tech industry during Pride Month?

We have a responsibility to educate ourselves and others about the issues facing marginalized communities, to speak out against discrimination and prejudice, and to actively work towards creating a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.

The role of allyship in the tech industry during Pride Month is crucial, but it should not be limited to just one month. It's about creating a culture of acceptance, respect, and support all year round.

Let’s all commit to being allies every day, not just during Pride Month (or Black History Month), and let us work together to create a better world for all.

Maxim Salnikov

Headshot of Maxim Salnikov smiling
Oslo, Norway
Google Developer Expert, Web Technologies and Angular
Developer Engagement Lead in Microsoft

Which tool has been your favorite? Why?

I'm currently a big fan of the Workbox library. I've used it to build all my recent progressive web apps, which require core PWA capabilities like offline readiness. I've given a lot of tech talks and workshops on Workbox because I want to introduce it to as many developers as possible.

I strongly believe that installability, connection resilience, and proper integration with the underlying platform are essential components of modern web frontend applications. Building a service worker from scratch to provide these features can be challenging, as there are many nuances and things to consider to avoid ruining your app in production.

Workbox provides the perfect balance of abstraction for the core entities you need to optimize networking, while still giving you full control over your service worker behavior. It's a stable and mature library that's actively supported by the community.

What Google tools have you used to build?

In my 20 years of being a developer, I've used many tools from Google. But what really drew me to the communities, conference organizing and technical speaking was the Angular framework. I was instantly in love with the technical side of it - it was a huge step forward for web development, allowing for the creation of frontend apps using some really cool backend techniques.

I also appreciate the developer community around it. They focus on sharing knowledge and tools, helping out new people, and being welcoming and positive. After attending a few Angular events organized by the community, I became a co-organizer of the Norwegian Angular meetup, and co-founded the Nordic Angular conference: ngVikings. We had three in-person events in Denmark and Finland, and one online event with thousands of participants. Nowadays, I use multiple frameworks for my hobby and side projects, but I'm still an active member of the Angular ecosystem.

Tell us about something you've built in the past using Google tools.

My recent projects that use Workbox for the service worker automation include:

I built it for my own live performances and share it with the global community of DJs and music producers.

Web Push is one of my favorite features of progressive web apps. I actively explore it from the development and UX perspective, and present my findings.

I am an active member of the generative AI community. This is my way of contributing to the creation of a healthy and united community around AI and LLM fields.

They are all open source, so I would appreciate any comments or pull requests!

What advice would you give someone starting in their developer journey?

  1. Learn the fundamentals. Take the time to learn the basics of coding, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These are the building blocks of web development and will give you a solid foundation for further learning.
  2. Practice. The best way to learn is to build things. Find projects to work on and practice coding.
  3. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions is the best way to learn and grow as a developer.
  4. Get involved in the developer community.

What is the role of allyship in the tech industry during Pride Month?

There are many initiatives that allies can organize and support. We also should be creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Radostin Cholakov

Headshot of Radostin Cholakov smiling
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Machine Learning Researcher, Obecto Ltd.

Which tool has been your favorite? Why?

My favorite Google tool is TensorFlow, as it has extensive support for a wide range of applications, from tabular modeling and graph neural networks to computer vision or natural language processing. The ability to build, train, and fine-tune complex neural networks using TensorFlow has significantly accelerated my research. Its easy integration with other technologies has made it an essential part of my development process.

Also, I love serverless and use Google Cloud Functions in nearly all my projects! I'm excited that during I/O this year, Python support was introduced in Firebase Functions as well.

What Google tools have you used to build?

I have used a variety of Google tools in my projects, including TensorFlow, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Firebase, and Flutter. They enable me to create powerful machine learning models, deploy, manage them at scale, and to build user-friendly interfaces to serve their applications across all platforms.

Tell us about something you've built in the past using Google tools.

One notable project I have built using Google tools is the Bulgarian NLP platform "AzBuki.ML". I used TensorFlow to develop several state-of-the-art natural language processing models specifically tailored for the Bulgarian language. These models were hosted on the Google Cloud Platform and served through web and mobile applications built with Angular, React, or Flutter and hosted on Firebase Hosting.

In the past two years, I have been actively conducting research in machine learning as well. I have used the developer resources by Google to extend my theoretical studies to usable software libraries or at least provide tutorials to interested developers on applying state-of-the-art techniques for auxiliary learning, contrastive learning, tabular modeling, and autoregressive text generation in their work. These include:

  • The GatedTabTransformer: A state-of-the-art deep learning tabular classification architecture inspired by TabTransformer with integrated gated multilayer perceptron. I recently gave a talk on how it can be used together with the TF-DF library for robust tabular classification and regression.
  • RSTOD: Novel auxiliary tasks for task-oriented dialogue systems. The study has been peer-reviewed and is available in the ACL Anthology.

What advice would you give someone starting in their developer journey?

  • Start your developer journey with curiosity and continuous learning. Resources for computer programming and machine learning are easily accessible, allowing growth at your own pace, from anywhere, at any time, and at any age.
  • Use online courses, tutorials, forums, and blogs to learn and connect with developer communities.
  • Collaborate on projects, exchange ideas, and gain insights, support, and mentorship from these networks.
  • Work on open-source projects that you're passionate about to enhance your problem-solving skills through hands-on experience and engage with the developer community to gain valuable experience or forge connections.

What is the role of allyship in the tech industry during Pride Month?

By embracing allyship, we can help create a more inclusive and innovative tech industry that benefits everyone.

#WeArePlay | Meet Tessa and Saasha from the UK, founders of waste-fighting app Olio

Posted by Leticia Lago, Developer Marketing In our latest #WeArePlay film, we’re spotlighting Tessa and Saasha - best friends turned co-founders of Olio. They’ve been on a mission to help people reduce waste by encouraging communities to share, sell or give-away what they no longer need - from leftover food to household items. The app now helps millions take one big step closer to living in a zero waste world.

Growing up on a farm, Tessa quickly learned how much hard work goes into producing food. Meanwhile, Saasha spent her childhood helping her family make ends meet through scavenging items that others threw away. When they eventually met in college, they bonded over their passion to help to save the environment through recycling and reducing waste.

But it wasn’t until Tessa was one day moving countries when the idea for Olio came - she couldn’t pack leftover food in air-freight, and couldn’t easily find anyone to take it. Feeling like this was a missed opportunity, she told Saasha about the idea for a food-sharing app. Saasha instantly knew she wanted to help make this app a reality, and so Olio was born. Tessa believes that “if no one else is taking action then we have to take action”.

Originally developed to encourage people to give away their surplus food, over time Olio has evolved so that people can give away any items that could have a second life. It’s now used in 62 countries, and Olio also partners with supermarkets and restaurants with the help of Food Waste Heroes - volunteers who collect and redistribute surplus food – saving an estimated 1 million meals per week. Looking to the future, Saasha says their ambition is “to create a world in which sharing becomes the new normal”.

You can read more inspiring stories, including those featuring LGTBQ+ apps celebrating Pride Month, at g.co/play/weareplay.

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AAPI Heritage Month: How Web GDE Vickie Li views the importance of diversity

Posted by Kevin Hernandez, Developer Relations Community Manager

For AAPI Heritage Month, we are celebrating Vickie Li, Web GDE

Head shot of Vickie Li, smiling


Vickie Li, Web GDE, is a Senior Security Engineer at Instacart where she works on a range of security tasks such as bug bounty reports and building internal security tooling. Although she went to school with the goal of becoming a developer, she discovered computer systems and started working on bug bounties as a way of exploring the security industry. From there, her interest in security blossomed and eventually inspired her to blog about security. As Vickie started to become more involved in blogging and sharing what she’s working on or learning, she started to realize that she really enjoyed the sense of community - both in the developer and AAPI communities.


AAPI community support and progress

To Vickie, diversity is important and necessary to inspire the next generation of tech professionals. Having role models that look like you serve as a way to show young professionals or students what is possible. Vickie shares, “For me, being a young Asian woman, it has been difficult to find role models that I can relate to. When I see people like myself excelling in the community, I am motivated to keep pursuing a tech career.” Just recently, Vickie attended a Women Techmakers event at I/O ‘23 where she felt inspired and was able to relate with the speakers who shared a lot of her same characteristics. This made Vickie feel a sense of solidarity and she says, "Meeting other women of AAPI heritage at I/O made me feel less alone on this tech journey. Having this community that I can relate to is helping me chart my career path."

Over the years, Vickie has noticed the tech industry making more of a conscious effort to celebrate and empower different cultures. Her company, for example, has their own way of celebrating AAPI heritage and they have employee groups that are devoted to helping Asian employees feel included and celebrated. This extends beyond the AAPI community and Vickie explains, "Actively recognizing the importance of diversity within the tech industry benefits everyone. Having a foundation of respect and open mindedness encourages innovation and inspires more people to pursue developer careers."


Advice for AAPI developers

Vickie encourages developers to find a relatable mentor to learn from and a mentor that has a shared experience. This allows you to learn from someone who has excelled in the space and have someone that you can personally look up to. She talks about her own personal experience by saying, “One of my earlier mentors in college wasn’t in the tech space but was of an Asian background. Because of that cultural understanding, he was able to help me navigate through a lot of my career difficulties, while also understanding my cultural upbringing and the nuances that may bring.” Vickie goes on to say, “It doesn't just apply to AAPI Heritage impact - it can also apply to if you're a woman, for example. Finding a woman role model to mentor you to help you navigate the tricky parts of the industry.”

Through the Google Developer Expert program, Vickie has seen people just like her excel in their careers and share their experiences through events such as Google I/O. Vickie has been able to meet people with shared experiences and similar backgrounds that show her what is possible in her own career.

You can find Vickie online on her personal site.


The Google Developer Experts (GDE) program is a global network of highly experienced technology experts, influencers, and thought leaders who actively support developers, companies, and tech communities by speaking at events and publishing content.

What’s new in Google Pay

Posted by Jose Ugia – Developer Relations Engineer

During Google I/O 2023, we shared some of the new features we’re adding to Google Pay and discussed how you can use them to simplify and strengthen your integrations, and add value to your customers making payments in your application or website.

Read on for a summary of what we covered during the event, or check out the recording of our session on YouTube: What's new in Google Pay and Google Wallet.


Liability shift on eligible transactions with Google Pay

Google Pay is expanding its zero fraud liability protection on Android devices for eligible transactions leveraging leading payment network security capabilities. Before today, online payments made with a Mastercard were guaranteed by this protection. Today, we are announcing that we are expanding this benefit by rolling out merchant liability protection to eligible Visa online transactions that are made using Google Pay.

In addition, we're making it easy to verify and add forms of payments to Google Pay. As just one example, Google Pay has added support for card authentication both before and after a payment transaction. Google Pay users are now able to verify their saved card via an OTP code or their banking app which creates a device-bound token that supports secure and seamless transactions both online and offline.


Reduce fraud with Google Pay

As part of our mission to help you reduce fraud and improve authorization rates without increasing user friction, we're actively working on a new service — Secure Payment Authentication, a service built to help with risk and compliance based authentication needs. This service can be used for eligible payment transactions that require additional verification, and use secure and high performing device bound tokens to meet two-factor authentication.

We are using this opportunity to engage with businesses like you as part of an early access program, to understand how it can help you boost authorization performance. If fraud is a challenge for your business today, contact us to tailor your authentication strategy with Secure Payment Authentication.

Image illustrating authentication flow using Secure Payment Authentication
Figure 1: Example authentication flow using Secure Payment Authentication.

The new dynamic button

We are giving the Google Pay button a fresh new look, applying the latest Material 3 design principles. The new Google Pay button comes in two versions that make it look great on both dark and light themed applications.

Image of the new Google Pay button view for Android
Figure 2: The new Google Pay button view for Android can be customized to make it more consistent with your checkout experience.

We're also introducing a new button view that simplifies the integration on Android. This view lets you configure properties like the button theme and corner radius directly in your XML layout. The new button API is available today in beta. Check out the updated tutorial for Android to start using the new button view today.

Later this quarter, you’ll be able to configure the new button view for Android to show your users additional information about the last card they used to complete a payment with Google Pay.

Image of the dynamic version of the new Google Pay button on Android
Figure 3: An example of how the dynamic version of the new Google Pay button view will look on Android.

An improved test suite with payment service provider cards

We are introducing PSP test cards, an upgrade to Google Pay’s test suite that lets you use test cards from your favorite payment processors to build end-to-end test scenarios. With this upgrade, you’ll now see specific test cards from your processor populate in Google Pay’s payment sheet, enabling additional testing strategies, both manual and automated.

Image of a test card in Google Pay’s payment sheet in TEST mode
Figure 4: Test cards from your payment processor appear in Google Pay’s payment sheet when using TEST mode.

This upgrade also supports test automation, so you can write end-to-end UI tests using familiar tools like UIAutomator and Espresso on Android, and include them in your CI/CD flows to further strengthen your checkout experiences. The new generation of Google Pay’s test suite is currently in beta, with web support coming later this year.


Virtual cards, autofill and more

Last year we introduced virtual cards on Android and Chrome. Since then, we’ve seen great adoption, providing secure and frictionless online checkout experiences for millions of users. Customers using virtual cards have enjoyed faster checkouts, reported less fraudulent spend, and made online transactions that were declined less often.

Autofill is receiving visual improvements to reduce checkout friction, and will soon let your customers complete payment flows using bank accounts in Europe. For developers using autofill, we are introducing recommendations in Chrome DevTools to help you improve checkout performance. We are also improving autofill to better fill forms across frames, helping you facilitate payments more securely.

Check out the Google I/O keynote for Google Pay and Google Wallet to learn more.


What’s ahead

We are determined to grow the number of verified forms of payment across the Google ecosystem, and continue to push for simple, helpful, and secure online payments, offering you a way to empower other businesses, and accelerate that change for consumers.

Later this quarter, you’ll be able to configure the new button view in your Android applications, to show your users additional information about the last card they used to complete a payment with Google Pay. We are also working on bringing the same customization capabilities announced for Android to your websites later this year.


Get started with Google Pay

Take a look at the documentation to start integrating Google Pay today.

Learn more about the integration by taking a look at our sample source application in GitHub.

When you are ready, head over to the Google Pay & Wallet console and submit your integration for production access.