Google’s Project Tango to deliver small form factor table with advanced 3D imaging camera

Google is said to b developing a small form factor tablet featuring an advanced 3D imaging camera under its Project Tango, The Wall Street Journal reported.

It said the project is much more than just a 3D camera platform. The internet company leaves it to users to imagine what it could be describing it thus: ''What if you could capture the dimensions of your home simply by walking around with your phone before you went furniture shopping? What if directions to a new location didn't stop at the street address? What if you never again found yourself lost in a new building?''

At the core of the technology is 3D depth sensing and motion detection that allow measurement of depth data to measure how far objects were in a room and if they were moving closer or stationary and how much space they occupied. It does the calculation in real-time thanks to a custom developed Movidius Myriad 1 vision processor, a one-of-its-kind low-powered companion chip, sort of like Apple M7 chipset.

Thanks to the software the cameras lay a grid of dots on objects and depending on how the dots are placed, the device indentified objects in the room.

According to Google's Project Tango webpage, the sensor suite "allow[s] the phone to make over a quarter million 3D measurements every second updating its position and orientation in real-time combining that data into a single 3D model of the space around you".

According to Google the technology could be used for improved indoor navigation for the visually impaired, step by step directions within stores, and laid the groundwork for more immersive games.

Google reportedly plans to produce 4,000 prototype tablets beginning June, with further plans likely to be announced ahead of its I/O developer conference at the end of the month.