Google, Developers Demo Impressive Gaming and VR Apps For Project Tango Tablet

MojoKid writes Google's Project Tango Android tablet offers a new way to interact with the world through the use of 3D mapping and real-time depth sensing. Combined with custom software and hardware sensors, Project Tango devices are capable of performing over a quarter million 3D measurements per second to create a 3D model of the world we see. There are endless possibilities as Google notes. "What if you could capture the dimensions of your home simply by walking around with your phone before you went furniture shopping? What if the visually-impaired could navigate unassisted in unfamiliar indoor places? And there are obvious big advantages in gaming applications for positioning, augmented reality, etc. Google was offering a first-hand experience with virtual reality gaming using Project Tango at GTC in San Jose today, and the results are pretty impressive. The first demo involved Zombie Gunship Reality, which allows you to take aim at killer zombies from the relative safety of the air. Using an NVIDIA Tegra K1-powered Project Tango dev tablet, you're able to aim your weapon by moving the tablet around in front of you, which provides for a more immersive experience than just tapping/swiping away on the screen alone to move. Google also demoed how a Project Tango device could be used to create a 3D capture of a room or even an entire building, giving users a way to navigate through unfamiliar surroundings without the need for Wi-Fi or GPS hardware.

Pretty cool

[Anonymous Coward]

Rainbow's end [wikipedia.org] in our lifetime?

Re:

[ne0n]

Or Daemon (2006) [goodreads.com]. Each book in the trilogy improves on its predecessor.

Because This Worked Out So Well for the 3DS/Wii U

[sexconker]

Using an NVIDIA Tegra K1-powered Project Tango dev tablet, you're able to aim your weapon by moving the tablet around in front of you, which provides for a more immersive experience than just tapping/swiping away on the screen alone to move.

This shit was a 5-minute throwaway novelty when it came packed in with the 3DS over 4 years ago.
It met a similar rush of disinterest when the Wii U was unveiled and launched.

People don't like gyro controls. They fucking suck.

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[Anonymous Coward]

I love how you skipped over the commercial success of the Wii.

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[sdw]

You don't understand what Tango is. This is not just gyro-based control. The cameras on the back of the unit are mapping out the space visually so that they sense position and movement in a highly detailed way. Tango is capable of real-time understanding of the geometry of the room and whole building it is in as it can see it. Gyro input may also be used, but is secondary to the visual input. Look closer next time.

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[wasteoid]

Agreed. Tango is way more than a gyro control for a 3D game - we've had that technology for years already. Real-time mapping of 3D geometry is amazing technology; stuff that has a huge number of uses, the least of which would be gyro-controlled 3D gaming. Kinda surprised they made such little use of the technology in the demo. The mapping part of the video at the beginning was by far the most interesting part.

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[sad_]

My first reaction also was - so what, the wii u does this also - but if google does it, it's suddenly cool?

Seriously?

[Fnord666]

Are you kidding me? The article features a link to a slashdot article that links to another slashdot article that links to a dice.com article? WTF?

It's All Fun and Games

[macs4all]

This sounds like a blast; but given Google's propensity for getting "bored" with Projects, I wonder how long this will last, after you plunk down your money.

Jus' sayin'...

Kinda getting tired of all these "project X"

[melted]

Kinda getting tired of all these "project X" things that never ship. If you can ship it, ship it. If you can't -- STFU and work on it, or cancel the project.