What is Project Tango? Google's AR tech explained

Google's Project Tango could turn out to be the biggest thing to happen to smartphone technology in years. Here's why.

When you think of Google and smartphones, you think of Android, right? But Google has its fingers in a number of smartphone technology pies, and one of the most exciting of those is Project Tango. It could transform the way you see the world – or at least, the way your smartphone sees it.

So what exactly is Project Tango all about? Let's take a look at how Google's augmented reality ambitions could revolutionise smartphones.

PROJECT TANGO - MAKING SMARTPHONES SEE

Announced early in 2014 and developed by Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team, Project Tango is Google's attempt to get mobile phones and tablets to see the way we see.

This means granting the device full spatial awareness, or the ability to understand your environment and your relation to it.

The essential aim is to get your smartphone to understand the world around it, enabling it to provide augmented reality experiences.

More recently, the likes of Intel and Qualcomm have announced reference Project Tango devices for developers to work on, which has prompted a great deal of excitement among the development community.

HOW DOES PROJECT TANGO WORK?

A Project Tango device 'sees' the environment around it through a combination of three core functions.

First up is motion tracking, which allows the device to understand its position and orientation using a range of sensors (including accelerometer and gyroscope).