Google has officially launched its Tango smartphone augmented reality (AR) system. The first Tango-enabled device, the Lenovo Phab Pro 2, is now available for sale in the US, priced at USD 499, and around 35 supporting apps are available on the Google Play Store.
AR uses depth-sensing cameras and location tracking to allow games and other apps to interact with the user's physical surroundings, building on the rudimentary real/virtual world crossover capabilities demonstrated by the Pokemon Go game, released in July.
Phab 2 Pro owners can project virtual 3D objects onto their surroundings as viewed on the device's screen, allowing them for example to play with a virtual pet or visualize how new furniture would look in a room.
The first Tango-enabled apps went live on Google's Play Store, two and a half years after the project was announced via a collaboration with Movidius, a provider of vision processor technology for mobile devices.
The aluminium-unibodied Phab Pro 2, first unveiled in June, is available in gold and grey and features a quad-HD, 6.4-inch screen, a 16 MP rear camera and and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, which the company says is optimized for Tango.
Google and Intel announced in August 2015 plans to collaborate on a Tango software developer kit allowing apps to make use of Intel's RealSense depth-sensing camera technology and building on a partnership between Google and Qualcomm.
The head of the Tango project Johnny Lee told a press briefing that more Tango devices will hit the market by next year and that the technology will eventually move beyond games to target industrial applications such as retail and real estate.
According to Tech Crunch, the Tango project is operated directly alongside Google's virtual-reality venture Daydream but they may be merged at some point.
Daydream launched last month alongside the company's new Pixel line of smartphones.
