We often daydream about a tango with a smartphone that supports both great VR and AR, but such a device may soon be a reality.
A few weeks ago, we reported that Motorola’s latest flagship phone, the Moto Z, would be the next handset to support Google’s Daydream mobile VR ecosystem. Integration arrived later in the week via an update to Android 7.0. Late last week, however, it also transpired that Moto Z could support another major Google technology, Project Tango.
Tango’s depth-sensing cameras might be added to the phone via Motorola’s Moto Mods concept, which has owners purchasing new modules for their phone and attaching them for a customized experience. According to Engadget, Motorola Mobility president Aymar de Lencquesaing confirmed as much at an event in Chicago, stating that AR on smartphones is “likely to stick” and that the company would “follow, or lead, the market in this area.”
Currently, the only phone to support Tango is the Lenovo Phab Pro 2, which doesn’t integrate Daydream. If a Tango module does release for Moto Z, it could well be the first phone to support both core Google technologies in one device. That means you could be visiting planets in Star Chart one moment, and then bringing the galaxy into your living room with Solar Simulator the next.
Such a device would have enormous potential, but it isn’t likely the two features would actually mix in any way. Tango could one day provide huge benefit to Daydream, possibly using the depth-sensing features to enable inside-out position tracking within a mobile headset, something that’s currently only seen in upcoming devices like the wired Microsoft PC devices and prototype standalone kits like Oculus’ Santa Cruz.
Last month Google told UploadVR that it had “solved” inside-out tracking on mobile VR using Daydream and Tango, but phones simply couldn’t handle both of them without overheating right now. Given that the teams behind the two are working so closely together, it’s a problem that will hopefully be solved sooner rather than later.
Featured Image: AnandTech
