Project Tango ‘was’ Google’s research project, in spacial recognition technology in which the full 3D motion of a device is tracked, capturing the shape of the environment in real-time.
It ‘was’ because Google just announced through a post on its social networking site that the project, up till last week an experimental one at Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP), has now moved towards certain realisation.
ATAP, which was earlier a division of Motorola, has had in the past ‘ambitious goals, time limits, and temporary project teams.’ The Tango research team has been working on the project for two years under ATAP with considerable success having collaborated with universities, research labs, and industrial partners across nine countries.
Now it is ‘transitioning from ATAP to a new home within Google,’ says the post. Developers have been working with early prototypes, according to the ATAP-Project Tango Team, and have been developed apps using the Project Tango Development Kit.
Utilizing customized hardware and software designed to track the full 3D motion of the device, the device helps create a map of the environment. These sensors allow for over a quarter million 3D measurements every second, updating its position and orientation in real-time, combining that data into a single 3D model of the space, explains Google.
According to Google, the devices run on Android and include development APIs to provide ‘position, orientation, and depth data to standard Android applications written in Java, C/C++, as well as the Unity Game Engine.’
“These early prototypes, algorithms, and APIs are still in active development. So, these experimental devices are intended only for the adventurous and are not a final shipping product,” Google had reported earlier.
Soon enough, however, all that might change. Word is that Google is working with LG to create a ready to buy version that might be released later this year.
(Image credit: Italo, via Flickr)
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