Google Project Tango is a 3D-scanning Android tablet
High-end device has Nvidia Tegra K1 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage but is only being sold only to developers
Google has officially unveiled its first Project Tango product, a 3D-scanning, Nvidia K1-powered tablet aimed exclusively at developers. First unveiled in February this year, Project Tango takes the concept used by Microsoft’s Kinect 3D sensing platform and puts them into a tablet.
Using a depth-sensing camera system, Project Tango hardware is capable of tracking motion and building up a 3D map of its surrounding environment. Google says the tablet could be used to map the inside of buildings in 3D, provide more accurate walking directions and even help the visually impaired. Project Tango could also be used for playing virtual reality games.
Google claimed at the time that the technology could have a major impact on mapping, indoor location services and for aiding the visually impaired. The company also promised integration with the Unity game engine for quick imports of real-world scans.
“We are physical beings that live in a 3D world. Yet, our mobile devices assume that physical world ends at the boundaries of the screen,” Google explained. “The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion.”
Powered by Nvidia’s latest Tegra K1 processor, the device has 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, the integrated camera system at the rear, and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless connectivity.
The device was previously only available in very limited quantities at Google’s I/O developer conference, but soon anyone that was unable to attend the event will be able to get their hands on one.
First spotted by Android Police, the tablet has some seriously impressive specifications: powered by the same Nvidia Tegra K1 processor found in the Nexus 9, with 4GB of RAM and a whopping 128GB of onboard storage, it looks like the most powerful Android tablet ever – and that’s before you take the array of cameras and sensors on the back into account.
The tablet is being produced in limited quantities and will be sold only to developers interested in producing software for Project Tango. It also won’t be cheap – the small production run and high-end specifications mean it costs $1,024 (around £609, excluding taxes).
