Google Unveils Project Tango For Personal 3D Mapping

Google has just unveiled a new project from its labs – Project Tango, a prototype smartphone that should let anyone create a 3D map of the world they live in. Google’s Advanced Technology and Project group developed the 5.0-inch smartphone that features specialised hardware and software that tracks its motion and combines them to create a 3D map of the environment…

Google has just unveiled a new project from its labs – Project Tango, a prototype smartphone that should let anyone create a 3D map of the world they live in.

Google’s Advanced Technology and Project group developed the 5.0-inch smartphone that features specialised hardware and software that tracks its motion and combines them to create a 3D map of the environment.

Now if you’re thinking this sounds a lot like what the Xbox Kinect does, it’s because it’s lead developer used to work for Microsoft’s Kinect. The phone’s sensors can record over 25 million 3D measurements per second and it can update its position and orientation in real-time.

The tracking equipment used by the phone includes a 4MP camera, 2x computer vision processors, and an integrated depth sensing and a motion tracking camera. Google has created 200 prototype dev kits of this phone that are divided among several fields of development including indoor navigation/mapping, augmented reality gaming and other possible uses.

Obviously, the smartphone is still in its early stages but it’s a good start. Google envisions the technology to be in use in various applications including providing help for the visually impaired, maps and navigation.

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