Google always has something new to offer to its audience, be it in Internet search, smartphones, driverless car technology, or any of the myriad areas. Among its many breakthroughs, one is Project Tango, which created a lot of buzz when the company announced that Lenovo is going to release the first smartphone to come with Tango baked in.
Earlier on, Google Maps had conquered the great outdoors, and now with its Project Tango, it aims to pave a new path for indoor location and other physical spaces. With Tango, it goes beyond 2-D mapping, extending into the creation of 3-D imagery, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR).
With the use of computer vision, Tango makes it possible to digitally recreate the physical world and make it available for various purposes.
Let’s understand Google’s Project Tango
The information found at Google’s Project Tango page, says, “Tango lets you see more of your world. Just hold up your phone, and watch as virtual objects and information appear on top of your surroundings. So no matter where you are, there’s always a richer, deeper experience to engage with, explore and enjoy. You’ll see.”
This description surely makes Project Tango sound exciting, doesn’t it? So, let’s go into depth. Project Tango is a new software platform that utilizes a range of cameras and sensors to make a mobile device spatially aware of its whereabouts.
A Tango-equipped smartphone or tablet can read the physical contours and dimensions of the space it’s in. It allows for all kind of digital manipulation of the scene – comprising of highly accurate indoor maps, 3D manipulation (i.e., adding 3D objects that aren’t there, or painting over real, physical items occupying the space) – by taking precise measurements of the room and the items in it, etc.
Presently, developers are working on creating apps for the platform, and it will be useful for myriad other uses as well that no one ever thought of.
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A smartphone equipped with Tango can ‘see’ the room that it’s in, taking note of where is the furniture, wall art, other items, and people. This contextual awareness paves the way to all kinds of new mobile applications, even though a lot of the early excitement around Tango focuses on the consumer side of things. This platform seems to be one fun toy with early demos showing off games that blend the real world with the virtual. Thus, it turns your phone into a game machine, personal GPS, digital tape measure and a lot more.
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Indoor Mapping, Augmented/Virtual Reality
Quite clearly it is, with Project Tango, Google looks forward to conquering Indoor Mapping and AR/VR with one single platform. And unlike the other hardware devices from Microsoft (HoloLens) and Facebook (Oculus Rift), Tango’s biggest advantage is that it turns your Android Smartphone/Tablet into a 3D mapping platform.
With this big announcement, we are waiting to see Google has in store for the future of Indoor Mapping and AR/VR.
