February 21, 2014

Google launches Project Tango to 3D map indoors using an Android smartphone

by Sayan Chakravarty

Google has revolutionized the mapping services by constantly adding cool and valuable features to it like the bird’s eye view and street view, but we all knew that indoor mapping would be the next big thing in the mapping world. Expectedly, Google is spearheading the change in the technology and has built a prototype Android smartphone that can learn and map the world around it. A part of Project Tango, the device is ready and is being handed over to developers to test its capabilities. The prototype 5” Android phone has advanced 3D sensors which will help the mapping software to learn the dimension of rooms and spaces just by being moved around inside of them. The idea is to build a robust map of the world that will offer the direction the precise point of the destination.


The Tango Project is a part of the Advanced Technology and Projects group, which was a part of the Motorola, but Google held on to it while selling the company to Lenovo. Google is preparing to give out 200 devices to developers who want use it to build mapping tools, games, and new algorithms that take advantage of the phone’s sensors, and it expects to send them out by March 14th. But the biggest impediment in the road of Project Tango will be privacy concerns. Neither everyone will welcome to get their private space to be intruded by such devices, nor will the authorities taking care of many public places want the areas mapped. It will be interesting to see how Google tackles with it as it’s already grappling with legal concerns surrounding the Google Glass.