Lenovo And Google To Push Augmented Reality Further: Announce First Project Tango Smartphone

At the CES 2016 event today, Lenovo and Google jointly announced that a new smartphone which leverages Project Tango is on the cards. Google had been working on Project Tango for quite some time now, and says collaboration with Lenovo is the next step for making it available to consumers. The Google Reveals Developer Edition Tablet For Its 3D Mapping Initiative Project Tango which Google launched in 2014 was not meant as a consumer device.

Project Tango is a depth-sensing camera that allows users to capture the world around them, and map it in 3D. The originally complex lens structure has now been simplified so as to fit in to a smartphone casing. It includes three vertically placed lenses which are responsible for the colour and depth information of an object, and a fisheye (wide angle) lens to capture the surroundings of an object so as to map it relatively.

Project-Tango-Smartphone-Lenovo-Google-CES

Lenovo might use an advanced version of its signature processor, Snapdragon, to process the images and render a miniature 3D version of your surroundings. But that is just the beginning. What can you do with that 3D simulation? The limit might be what you put on it. Once the API and developer kit have been launched, it would be interesting to see what applications this has. But for now, Google calls for app ideas, and says promising ones will be supported and come preinstalled on the Lenovo device. Developers can #-Link-Snipped-#till 15th of February.

Google says the Tango Project has utility in augmented reality, and it does seem larger than life, because once you’ve scanned and mapped the environment as it is, you can add anything to it on your mobile device. With this, prototyping interiors might get so much easier and cost effective. The device would also be capable of mapping the insides of buildings to create an indoor map, which could be a shot in the arm for Google Maps.

Even though Lenovo has not released actual images of this new phone, it says the display will be 6+ inches, and will run Android. They are all set to launch the phone this summer, at a cool price of less than $500. Remember the sonar imaging tech from The Dark Knight? Now imagine you and I being able to do that.

Source: Lenovo will launch first Project Tango phone this summer, but won’t show it yet | Ars Technica

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