Google Announces Project Tango Smartphone With 3D Sensors That Can Map Your Environment [Video]

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Posted February 21, 2014 at 8:15am by Shalom Levytam

Google has announced Project Tango, a 5-inch smartphone containing customized hardware and software designed to track the full 3D motion of the device while simultaneously creating a map of your environment.

These sensors allow the phone to make 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 around you.

The smartphone runs and Android and includes 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.

Google imagines the phone being used to capture the dimensions of your home simply by walking around with your device before you went furniture shopping. Or perhaps, directions to a location could continue beyond its street address, preventing you from ever being lost in a new building. It could help the visually-impaired navigate unfamiliar places. It might assist you in finding the exact shelf a product is one in a super-store.

Imagine playing hide-and-seek in your house with your favorite game character, or transforming the hallways into a tree-lined path. Imagine competing against a friend for control over territories in your home with your own miniature army, or hiding secret virtual treasures in physical places around the world?

Google is letting developers apply to be one of the first to get a prototype of the Project Tango smartphone.

Currently, we have 200 prototype dev kits. We have allocated some of these devices for projects in the areas of indoor navigation/mapping, single/multiplayer games that use physical space, and new algorithms for processing sensor data. We have also set aside units for applications we haven’t thought of yet. Tell us what you would build. Be creative. Be specific. Be bold.

The units will be distributed by March 14th. More details in the video and at the link below.

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Google Announces Project Tango Smartphone With 3D Sensors That Can Map Your Environment [Video]

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gamerscul9870 - February 21, 2014 at 9:03pm

It's google maps and camera combined, horrible 3d view mixed with whatever the camera sees.

Great! - February 21, 2014 at 5:32pm

Remember the Batman movie that uses sonar on every mobile phone to map their surroundings? Google is doing this already, but it needs better sensors to get a more accurate map. Combined with their ability to turn on an android phone's camera and Chrome to turn on your PC/laptop's camera, Google is able to map out most of your world.

sH23 - February 23, 2014 at 10:30pm

Not if I don't invite them in.

AntiNeo - February 21, 2014 at 4:21pm

I think this combined with another technogy might help blind people in near future...

Great! - February 21, 2014 at 5:27pm

Yes combined with google glasses for the blind. It will feed directly into the brain to allow blind people to see.

Trucker68 - February 21, 2014 at 4:02pm

You can't stop big brother. Tech will not stop till your every movement is doc to stop crime. So deal with it, live with it, and except it.

Nitro Junkie - February 22, 2014 at 1:09am

Just like minority report. It's only gonna get worse.

sH23 - February 23, 2014 at 10:32pm

Stop you say, or commit crimes?

Anthony - February 21, 2014 at 3:05pm

Oh, and BTW- Why the hell would you need to map your house? You don't.... You know that place inside and out. We all (as kid's) went all the way upstairs into the corner of the house, closed our eyes, and walked all the way down to the basement using sonar. (DON'T LIE .... YOU KNOW YOU DID THIS!!!) So... if we don't need the house mapped, then who does? #TheWatcher

gamerscul9870 - February 21, 2014 at 5:19pm

What if you were lost in the dark and woke up in a random place for example? I don't need this but just asking...

Great! - February 21, 2014 at 5:29pm

You won't need to map your house. Google does. They want to be able to know what and where you place things in your house so they can sell you stuff.

gamerscul9870 - February 22, 2014 at 1:29am

Well, we did try to hack apples fingerprint scanner, whatever is revealed on google screen we will know exactly where, just wait until users now show the address.

Anthony - February 21, 2014 at 2:59pm

This is innovation. But I will never EVER trust Google with this type of info... That's not to say that I trust the other guys but Google is the worst, they even have Chrome turn on your comps camera while your at home..... #Never

Anon - February 21, 2014 at 2:47pm

And apple is apparently more innovative

gamerscul9870 - February 21, 2014 at 5:18pm

And trolls are you, damn.

gamerscul9870 - February 21, 2014 at 12:18pm

They did good it the textures aren't that clear, it's like a early 2000's game with real sky.

gamerscul9870 - February 21, 2014 at 12:15pm

Is it just me or does it look bulkier than the new phones? Don't get me wrong though, this is one good idea.

nobody2014_2 - February 21, 2014 at 11:28am

Simply a beautiful piece of technology made for inutility

Bj - February 21, 2014 at 10:14am

NSA at large !. Phone calls simply can't be enough, now you can have them in your home in 3D.

Camfella - February 21, 2014 at 9:03am

This will end up being used mostly for gaming, and involving Glass.

alunkkk - February 21, 2014 at 9:14am

2:33 - MacBook Air. 2:48 - MacBook Pro. LOL

not paranoid - February 21, 2014 at 8:59am

yea another way the NSA can spy on everybody with GPS they can pinpoint your position with this can see where you are in a 3D model

McLovin - February 21, 2014 at 8:26am

Finally something for that kid that had to play hide and seek by themselves.