Google unveils 3D sensor smartphone

Google has unveiled a new prototype smartphone with 3D sensors, enabling the creation of 3D maps of a user’s surrounding.

“The goal of Project Tango is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion,” Google wrote on its website, explaining that the current prototype is a 5-inch phone containing customised hardware and software designed to track the full 3D motion of the device, while simultaneously creating a map of the environment.

“These sensors allow 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.”

Running on Android, Google has said that applications may include indoor mapping, helping the visually-impaired navigate unfamiliar indoor places unassisted, searching for products in-store and gaming.

Google currently has 200 prototype development kits and is looking for professional developers “with dreams of creating more than a touch-screen app” and to “push the technology forward and build great user experiences on top of this platform.”

The firm has said that is expects to distribute all available units by mid-March.