Smartphone With Kinect-style Computer Vision In The Works

Google is apparently working on yet another ‘crazy’ device, and this time it is attempting to incorporate 3D computer vision technology similar to Kinect into a smaller device, a smartphone.

The project is called “Project Tango” and is being developed by Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group. It is said that the computer vision is toggled by a new co-porcessor from Movidius named “Myriad 1”, a chip designed from the ground up to bring Kinect-style computer vision to smartphone devices.

“Project Tango strives to give mobile devices a human-like understanding of space and motion through advanced sensor fusion and computer vision, enabling new and enhanced types of user experiences – including 3D scanning, indoor navigation and immersive gaming.” Johnny Lee, Technical Program Lead at ATAP describes the project.

Google has a change to pull this off since they have something up their sleeves, and that is Johnny Lee, who is a former Microsoft employee and worked on the Kinect technology before joining the team at Google. However, the handset is said to be developed and distributed to developers first in order to see what they can come up with.

The handset is reported to be able to generate a 3D model of a room with the help of this technology and allow apps to interact with the model outputted. The device’s specs include a 5-inch Android phone with two computer vision co-processors, a 4 MP rear camera, depth sensor, and a second camera for motion tracking.

While the Google Glass is a miniaturised version of a Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the vision for such a device as “Project Tango” is clear. Until then, developers are encouraged to send their ideas to Google here.

Thank you Arstechnica for providing us with this information
Image and video courtesy of Arstechnica