Project Tango is Google’s mission to expand the capabilities of the average mobile device, specifically into a viable piece of 3D technology. As the 3D tablet and PC market heats up, the company has recently announced that they are slashing the price tag of their Tango Tablet for “invitation only” developers, sending out numerous emails with the Tango Tablet offered at $512, which is half off of the $1024 price. And, once select developers get their last shot at Google’s attempt to exploit the tablet/phone-with-3D-scanning-capabilities craze, then it will be the general public’s turn to have a closer look at the technology.
Project Tango is the first mobile device to include real-time spatial mapping capabilities with the average perks of a mobile device. The technology is just coming out of Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) division, after being in development for two years.
“[A]fter two fast-paced years in ATAP, and many technical successes, the Tango team is transitioning from ATAP to a new home within Google. We’re excited about the continued commitment to developing the technology for our users.” said ATAP representatives in a recent post on Google+, announcing the release of Tango.
Currently the developer kit includes NVIDIA’s Tegra K1 processor with a 7″ display screen. The mobile device also includes 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM, with a Tegra K1 quad-core processor. Motion-tracking cameras, Android KitKat, LTE and integrated depth sensing round off the list of features. Both front and back cameras boast unique features as well, with the front camera having a 120-degree viewing angle. The back camera comes equipped with motion tracking capability with an integrated depth sensor.
Google has stated that its goal with the Tango is to give Android and mobile devices a human-scale understanding of motion and space, and capture the shape and scale of the environment in real time. Google is also currently working with LG on bringing another version of the technology straight to consumers within the next year.
The ubiquitous nature of and continued miniaturization of sensors will surely add to the increasing amount of 3D detection and capture available today, which could even accelerate the widespread acceptance of 3D printing technology moving forward.
