The tablets could be ready before Google's developer conference in late June, the WSJ reported
Google is developing a new tablet with advanced vision capabilities that can be used to capture 3D images.
About 4,000 of the prototypes will be produced at the beginning of next month for use by developers, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing people briefed on the company's plans. The new tablet could be ready before Google's developer conference Google I/O kicks off on June 25, the Journal said.
The tablet will have a 7-inch screen, infrared depth censors, two back cameras and software for processing 3D images, and will be part of Google's Project Tango, according to the newspaper.
Project Tango is Google's attempt to create a mobile device that shares a human's sense of space and movement and understands and perceives the world the same way we do.
A Google spokesman declined to comment on the tablet plans on Friday.
In February, Google launched a 5-inch Project Tango prototype Android smartphone combining technology from the worlds of computer vision and robotics to create a 3D model of the phone's surroundings.
This technology could for instance be used to quickly find the exact shelf where a product is located in a store or to make a 3D floor plan of a house before going out to shop for furniture. Project Tango could also guide the visually impaired around unfamiliar indoor places and provide step-by-step directions in stores.
These are all possibilities for the tablet too, reported the Wall Street Journal, adding that the technology could also be used for immersive videogames.
Two Project Tango phones are heading to the International Space Station during the upcoming Orbital 2 commercial resupply mission scheduled to launch on June 10. The phones will be attached to self-powered soccer-ball-sized robots called "Spheres" that will fly around inside the space station.
NASA will test how well the 3D modeling and visual odometry can be used to let the Spheres learn their environment based on what it sees, rather than relying on fixed sensors in the environment. One day, the 3D phones could also be used to fly around the outside of the space station or even for NASA's plans to land on an asteroid.
(See video of the Tango phone and Spheres at NASA in a YouTube video.)
Google is not the only company investing in advanced 3D tech. Facebook is also interested and is in the process of buying Oculus VR, the developer of the Oculus Rift virtual-reality headset for about US$2 billion. That acquisition is about much more than gaming though. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg sees it as the next major computing platform, one that will be used for shopping, communication, education and more.
Loek is Amsterdam Correspondent and covers online privacy, intellectual property, open-source and online payment issues for the IDG News Service. Follow him on Twitter at @loekessers or email tips and comments to loek_essers@idg.com
In this latest episode of our Conversations over a Cuppa with CMO series, we catch up with Jane Power, who stepped into the director of marketing and transformation role at GenesisCare in April 2020.
Understanding the core principles of Behavioural Economics will give players in the travel industry a major competitive advantage when restrictions lift and travellers begin to book again. And there are a few insights in here for the rest of the marketing community, too.
Unicorns, the Sunken City of Atlantis, Zeus: They are very famous. So famous in fact, that we often think twice about whether they are real or not. Sometimes if we talk about something widely enough, and for long enough, even the strangest fiction can seem like fact. But ultimately it is still fiction - stories we make up and tell ourselves over and over until we believe.
At a time of uncertainty and economic hardship, customer retention takes on much greater importance. CX Lavender’s Linda O’Grady examines the big grey area between ‘all’ and ‘best’ customers when deciding who is worth fighting for and how.
looking for the best quality of SMM Panel ( Social Media Marketing Panel ) is a website where People Buy Social Media Services Such as Fa...
Kavin kyzal
How to manage social media during Covid-19
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. Definitely bookmarked for future reading! Check this website https://a2designlab.com/ with lots of ...
Pierce Fabreverg
Study: Gen Z are huge opportunity for brands
Thanks for sharing. You might want to check this website https://lagimcardgame.com/. An up and coming strategic card game wherein the cha...
Pierce Fabreverg
Board games distributor partners with Deliveroo in business strategy pivot
Such an important campaign, dyslexia certainly need more awareness. Amazing to see the work Code Read is doing. On the same note we are a...
Hugo
New campaign aims to build understanding around scope and impact of dyslexia
Great Job on this article! It demonstrates how much creativity, strategy and effort actually goes to produce such unique logo and brandin...
Pierce Fabreverg
Does your brand need a personality review? - Brand vision - CMO Australia