Google I/O, a playground for developers (pictures)

Branding as sculpture at Google I/O.

Though the sessions were held in air-conditioned tents, attendees had to wait in line in the festivallike atmosphere under blazing sun where shade was scarce.

Theme rooms built from shipping containers showed off some of the newly announced Google products. The Living Room, here, featured some of the new home audiovisual gadgets.

A blank white droid invited attendees to come up with naming ideas for the newest version of the Android operating system, now temporarily known as Android N.

An audio experience invites listeners to experiment with different sounds by plugging into an array of audio sources.

Google I/O features free-flowing ideas and big-picture thinking.

Inside the Google Play Music room, the Bohemian Rhapsody Experience treated Cardboard viewers to a behind-the-scenes VR dance recital.

With a birth defect that prevented his fingers from growing, Max found help from the Enable Community Foundation, which used 3D printed, open-source tools to give him a simple mechanical hand with fingers that grip.

Android was everywhere at Google I/O -- even trimmed into the bushes.

Exploring Android Auto got a little fancy inside this red hot Maserati.

An update to Android Auto allows Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to equip the system with their own apps.

Android Auto is hoping to get you to your destination more quickly and safely with the new integration of the Waze navigation app.

Another big Android Auto update allows searching along your navigation route -- a difficult problem to solve, a technical engineers tells me.

A paint flicking robot danced to electronic beats as attendees manipulated the bot to make some playful art.

One of Google I/O's shipping container demonstration areas, showing off some of the new products and features announced today.

At the materials design review studio, Google engineers and designers were on hand to walk through attendees' designs and brainstorm work-flow and design solutions.

The festival atmosphere was enhanced by art roaming the festival grounds, like this pirate-ship bus.

Taking a break in the connected-home room, with a wired foosball table.

In the Experimental Android playground, an attendee plays with Yuri Suzuki's AR Music Kit, which uses a few sticky notes to turn any device into a musical instrument. When the camera picks up the patterned sequence, the device plays the corresponding notes.

A look at the spacious and minimalist interior of one of Google's self-driving cars, which was on site.