Still hot news from Google I/O, and we’re hearing new things about Google’s Project Tango – that 3D mapping and camera technology that Google has been peddling left and right, and yet has been struggling to fly and be useful to the consumer market. Well, it looks like Google is still convinced that Tango technology will still make a difference in the consumer market – they’ve announced that the software for the technology is getting baked into Android N, provided your phone or tablet has the hardware to use it.
The caveats for hardware are significant in that normal smartphones won’t usually have these elements. Tango in Android N will need a 6-DOF (degree of freedom) sensor and depth cameras, and assuming your device has them, the software elements of Project Tango get “unlocked”, so to speak. So Tango will be native to Android N, but it needs hardware elements to be of use.
“Over the past year one of the things we’ve been doing a lot is working with Qualcomm to integrate these components onto their Snapdragon processor,” Project Tango’s Johnny Lee explains. This means that as long as manufacturers pick a Snapdragon 820 chipset or better, they’ll already have the processing power to run Tango-style functionality.
From 3D location mapping to augmented reality and gaming, Google thinks that there is a lot of potential for people using Tango in real life. Google is hoping that this new native placement of Tango in Android N will be the push that the technology needs to get into the daily processes of consumers. Well, time will tell, but Android N – still without an official name, mind you – is looking to be a big jump for Android.
SOURCE: SlashGear
