Gecko Design Inc. is the kind of company others look to when they have ideas that they want to turn into physical products. Google is the kind that has said ideas, and it started working with the folks at Gecko in 2013. The two hit it off so well that they started discussing the possibility of taking their relationship to the next level, and the rest, they say, is history. The tech giant will use its newly acquired talent to boost up its Google X research lab.

Google could use some help taking concepts and turning them into commercial products that consumers will be drawn to. Google Glass, for example, is functional, but it's not exactly ready for store shelves.

While we wait to see what offspring this coupling will yield, we can look back on some of the creations Gecko has already helped bring to life. The company helped to design the Slingbox, lent HP some support with its computers, and put some effort into the One Laptop Per Child project. Gecko has also done work with Sonos and Aliph. I'll drop the photos here, and you can offer up your impressions in the comments underneath.

Via Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal