TORONTO – Google has lifted the curtain on a secretive project that would make the Internet giant the first to make a smartphone with 3D mapping capabilities.
Project Tango is Google’s latest Android phone development that has the capability to learn the dimensions of rooms and spaces that the user moves around in.
“Our goal is to give mobile devices a human scale understanding of space and motion,” said Johnny Chung Lee, project lead with the Advanced Technology and Projects group at Google.
The prototype phone has an integrated depth sensor, motion tracking camera, and computer vision processors that allow it to track motion in 3D in real time as the user hold it.
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What could it be used for?
Google already has some idea of how the technology could be used, from simple tasks like mapping the dimensions of your home in order to make furniture shopping easier, to helping visually-impaired users navigate unfamiliar spaces with auditory cues.
The device could also be used for augmented reality gaming.
Google currently has 200 prototypes of the device, but the phone will only be available to developers interested in working on software for the prototype – similar to how Google is experimenting with Google Glass.
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