Google spent more than a year developing a device that could 3D-map an environment with one picture. The gadget, titled "Project Tango," is a tablet that uses a camera and Kinect-esque technology to capture a 3D image of a room for future use. It is now part of Google's new gadget scheme.
The company has announced that Project Tango, which was one of Google's many projects under their Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP) division, is moving to "a new home within Google" following "two fast-paced years in ATAP and many technical successes."
The device uses a combination of two cameras and a depth sensor to capture the surrounding environment and create the image.
When Engadget got their hands on a prototype last July, the site noted that "the tablet's loaded with top-of-the-line components throughout to give devs what they need, while retaining a realistic price tag."
Engadget sees a lot of potential for the device.
"If you're wandering aimlessly through a Home Depot to find a small trinket, you could install an app that guides you through the store, like an indoor version of in-car GPS," the site suggested. "Or, instead of imagining how that Swedish sofa would look in your living room, another app might deftly show you if the furniture will fit where you want it to go, no tape measures or imagination required.
"Virtual real estate tours could become much more realistic for buyers while three-dimensional maps would be especially handy for visually impaired users".
In other words, this device has some interesting real-world implications.
The creators will continue to develop and adjust the hardware, and it's quite possible that Google will install them into their devices in the near future. But for now, the team has moved out of the realm of "possible gadget" to "actual gadget."
