Google invests $120 million for secret testing labs

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Google is building a new test lab at its California headquarters with a major investment of over $120 million dollars.

The 'secret lab' will include buildings that are screened against external radio waves and can be used to test advanced new wireless projects for the home, reports the Telegraph.

Other experiments will look at the use of rare gases and innovative optical coatings.

The company has already demonstrated new concepts for the ‘Android@Home’ brand, which would allow users of Google mobile phones to control light switches, music systems and domestic appliances.

Google is also reportedly modifying a separate lab as part of its advanced ‘Project X’ scheme and is set to include as yet unspecified ‘precision optical technology’.

It is also building new anechoic and thermal chambers to test sound and radiation patterns.

Apple is also in the process of building its own new facility, which was one of the projects that founder Steve Jobs was working on closely before his death last year. Other Silicon Valley corporations such as IBM and HP already have similarly impressive facilities.

Google’s plans additionally include a ‘Google Experience Center’, that will offer meeting rooms and a history of the company’s achievements, aimed at major and prospective clients. It will be able to cater for up to 900 VIPs.

Project Architect Andrew Burnett wrote to Mountain View, California, officials last year that "The Experience Center would not typically be open to the public - consisting of invited groups, and guests whose interests will be as vast as Google's range of products, and often confidential.

"Therefore, the Experience Center must also operate somewhat like a museum, exhibit, or mercantile space allowing flexibility in the exhibits so that as Google's products and needs change, the space can adapt."

The project is part of an 800,000 square foot plan to refurbish Google’s campus.