First-ever Google Tango phone boasts genuine AR gaming

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tango, Google's depth-sensing tech, is ready to make its consumer debut: the first-ever Tango phone, the Lenovo Phab2 Pro, goes on sale for $499 on Tuesday, November 1, according to Engadget.

To accompany the Phab2 Pro's launch, Google is announcing over 35 new Tango apps, all of which will be available in the Play Store on Tuesday.

Tango first started life as a project within ATAP, Google's Advanced Technologies and Projects division. The idea was to integrate an array of sensors and cameras into a mobile device so that it could figure out its position relative to its surroundings. As reported earlier, Tango's 3D-mapping can be used to give directions in a museum, assist in home improvement projects and create cartoon worlds, but there are a few new ones that seem to be new.

One of them is Crayola Color Blaster, which is described as a "zombie color-blasting game." Created by Legacy Games, the object here is to deal with incoming zombies by pelting them with paint. The zombies appear in an augmented reality view on the display, so it looks as if they're there in your actual living room.

Next is Sockethead Games' Slingshot Island, which is pretty much as the name describes. Again utilizing augmented reality, you place a virtual island in your physical space, be it your dining table or your kitchen floor. From there, you'll use a slingshot to shoot projectiles at it in order to solve puzzles, like knocking an egg off a structure. The interesting thing here is that your entire phone is the motion controller. That means as soon as you aim your target, you actually move the phone around to establish the shot -- as if your entire phone is the slingshot itself.

Of course, Tango has other uses besides gaming. You can use an app called Measure to measure anything in your home, which is useful for home decorating. Apps like Wayfair View or iStaging are great for visualizing the placement of your furniture. There are educational applications too, like Solar Simulator for exploring the planets in the solar system.