Since the earliest days of the smartphone, tech companies have been working to design these devices as tools with capabilities beyond communication. A while ago now in early 2014, Google announced the launch of Project Tango, which brings the capacity for 3D imaging to tablets. A powerful Android device to gain awareness of the space it was in, and to do so far more precisely than anything seen before. Yes, your device can be more useful.
At CES 2016, Lenovo and Google have presented the first device, as the result of their partnership to create the first consumer-targeted tablet that understand the environment in 3D, featuring Project Tango.
Also new, Google announced an app incubator program to motivate developers giving them the opportunity to submit ideas for gaming and utility apps using Project Tango's augmented reality tech. The best apps will be pre-loaded on Lenovo’s phone.
About the Technology
The Tango demos primarily focused as an augmented reality device. Actually, Project Tango’s core technologies are motion tracking, depth perception, and area learning. It can therefore perceive depth, shape, form and ‘remember’ pre-mapped areas just as human eyes can.
The motion tracking of Project Tango via its custom sensors enables understanding of position, and provides real-time information about the 3D motion of the device. Depth sensors measure the shape of areas being scanned allowing the virtual world to interact with the real world. Project Tango devices can also use visual cues to help recognize the world around them.
Using series of built sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, compass) plus a motion-tracking 4-megapixel camera, an ambient light sensor, GPS, a barometer and 3D depth-sensing sensors, Project Tango-enabled devices gather data from the environment to build on-screen 3D objects. Creating 3D mapping in this way has never been seen before and it represents an exciting development in technology and specifically augmented reality.
Day-To-Day
In the practice, Project Tango has a powerful potential for augmented shopping experiences (here you can see a pilot conducted by Walgreens), and for use in the property market. The devices’ ability to rapidly generate a 3D map means that it can give potential buyers an immersive tour of the property remotely.
We can also see great potential for the gaming industry, artistic impression, advertising and tourism, just to mention some fields. Plus, Project Tango could bring benefits for visually impaired users and new environments for people with limited mobility where they can experience otherwise inaccessible locations using augmented reality.
Definitely, Project Tango that could change the way people perceive and interact with the environment around them.
Google says Project Tango is "A mobile device that can see how we see". “With Project Tango, the smartphone becomes a magic window into the physical world by enabling it to perceive space and motion that goes beyond the boundaries of a touch screen”.
"To break new ground in today's hyper competitive smartphone and tablet industries, we must take innovation risks – it's the only way to truly change the way people use mobile technology," Chen Xudong, senior VP of Lenovo Group.
Release
The device will be available during the summer of 2016 and will include a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, with less than 6.5 inches in size and a cost under $500.
