Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group is working on more than just Project Ara. Its Project Tango is meant to give our mobile devices ” a human-scale understanding of space and motion” by giving them an array of sensors and the computing ability to create maps of their physical surroundings in real time. The first such device (seen above), the Project Tango Tablet Development Kit geared at developers, is set to go on sale later this year. Project Tango lead Johnny Lee today confirmed at Google I/O that it was planning to launch a consumer version in 2015.
Lee also revealed that Google was in early discussions with LG to build this consumer device. No further details about the tablet were provided though.
Project Tango could have a range of applications. It could give visually impaired people new freedoms of movement while allowing free-flying robots to make their way through space. It could also turn familiar environments such as your house into new levels in games. In one demonstration, Lee showed how a 3D map of his house got turned into a fantasy wooded land in which he could interact with various characters.
We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Project Tango to see where it takes us (pun intended).
Source : Forbes