Category: google tango

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Watch Google’s ‘Visual Positioning Service’ AR Tracking in Action

At today’s annual Google I/O developer conference, Clay Bavor, VP of Virtual Reality at Google, announced a new augmented reality service called Visual Positioning Service, the latest development for the Tango platform that promises to not only precisely map the world around you in concert with Google Maps, but also give you a ‘GPS-like’ turn-by-turn navigational experience when you’re indoors. In addition, he announced an AR mode for an upcoming educational tool called Google Expeditions.

Following some major VR announcements including Daydream-compatible standalone VR headsets in the works from HTC and Lenovo, Bavor moved on to Google’s AR operations, confirming that the Asus Zenfone AR, the second Tango-enabled consumer smartphone, is still on track for a summer 2017 launch.

Google Tango is a smartphone-based AR platform that has the ability to map the world around you in real-time using a number of on-board sensors and the phone’s camera.

image courtesy Google

The Visual Positioning Service (VPS) revealed on stage, which combines Tango’s inside-out tracking system with Google Maps, provides “very precise location information indoors,” claims Bavor. As an example, Bavor described looking for a specific screwdriver at a Lowe’s home improvement store. Holding up a VPS-enabled phone inside the store will allow the system to know exactly where you are “within a few centimetres”, and will be able to direct you (based on previous collected data) to the exact tool you were searching for, sort of like an in-door GPS complete with turn-by-turn directions.

Google says VPS works today in partner museums and select Lowe’s stores.

image courtesy Google

In other words, “GPS can get you to the door, VPS can get you the exact item”. In the future, VPS combined with an audio interface could transform the way visually-impaired people move around the world. It will also be “one of the core capabilities of Google Lens”—a new image recognition initiative also announced today.

Finally, Bavor announced AR is being added to Google Expeditions, the popular ‘virtual field trip’ tool for education. Introduced two years ago for the inexpensive Cardboard VR headset, Expeditions has since been used by 2 million students. The new AR mode, demonstrated on video in a classroom with students holding several Zenfone ARs on selfie sticks, was described as “the ultimate show and tell.” The Expeditions AR mode will be added later this year.

The post Watch Google’s ‘Visual Positioning Service’ AR Tracking in Action appeared first on Road to VR.

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Report: Google May Introduce a New All-in-one VR Headset at I/O Developer Conference

According to a Variety exclusive, Google may be gearing up to show off a brand new mobile VR headset at Google I/O developer conference this week, one that not only delivers VR in an all-in-one device, but could likely offer inside-out positional tracking as well.

The Variety report maintains information of the alleged all-in-one mobile VR headset—which won’t require a phone or PC to use—was gathered from “multiple sources with knowledge of the project.” Predictably, a Google spokesperson declined to comment.

The report posits that the headset is likely to debut this week in similar fashion to Google Daydream, which was introduced at last year’s Google I/O. Daydream is the company’s high-quality mobile VR platform designed to work with several flagship devices including the company’s own Pixel phone.

image courtesy Google

It’s unsure at this time exactly what a Google-made, all-in-one headset will look like, and whether it will incorporate the company’s augmented reality initiative Tango’s computer vision capabilities or not. Google’s interest in room-scale, interactive experiences is clear however, as evidenced by their early acquisition of VR studio Skillman and Hackett, known for creating Tiltbrush (2016), and more recently their acquisition of VR studio Owlchemy Labs, the minds behind Job Simulator (2016) and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017).

The conference takes place today, May 17th, and goes until the 19th. The opening keynote will be livestreamed on the company’s developer channel on YouTube at 10 am PDT today.

The post Report: Google May Introduce a New All-in-one VR Headset at I/O Developer Conference appeared first on Road to VR.

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Google Brings Native ‘Tango’ AR Support to Unity

Google has announced that its augmented reality platform Tango will be getting native integrated support for Unity later this year.

During Unity’s Vision AR/VR Summit opening keynote, Google’s PM for Developer Platforms Nathan Martz took to the stage to announce that, the company’s AR focused platform Tango will join its VR counterpart Daydream in receiving official, native integration in the Unity game engine.

Google’s Nathan Martz, Photo Courtesy Unity

Of the new integration, Martz asserted that “this is going to make Tango AR development for smartphones just as accessible and powerful as Daydream VR is today.” The new native Tango integration is on its way later this year, due to arrive in version 2017.2 of Unity.

SEE ALSO
Asus 'ZenFone AR' Google Tango, Daydream VR Phone Launched, Specs Revealed

A long time in gestation, we’ve recently seen a flurry of hardware support for Tango announced, with the most recent Asus’ ZenFone AR – announced in January this year. With that in mind, it’s good to see the barrier of entry for Tango development lowered still further.

The post Google Brings Native ‘Tango’ AR Support to Unity appeared first on Road to VR.

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8i erhält 27 Millionen US-Dollar an Investitionen und zeigt Holo App

Wer sich schon länger mit Virtual Reality beschäftigt, der ist sicherlich bereits über die Anwendung von 8i gestolpert. Die Entwickler haben sich auf volumetrische Videos spezialisiert und bringen in ihren Videos reale Aufzeichnungen von Menschen in eine virtuelle Welt. Der Vorteil dieser Darstellungsform ist, dass mit dieser Technik Virtual Reality Videos mit echten Darstellern erzeugt werden können. Die kostenlose Anwendung auf Steam stößt derzeit zwar auf wenig Gegenliebe der Community, doch das Unternehmen hat bereits weitere Ideen in der Hinterhand.

8i erhält 27 Millionen US-Dollar an Investitionen und zeigt Holo App

8i konnte sich in einer neuen Investitionsrunde 27 Millionen US-Dollar von Unternehmen wie Baidu, Verizon und Time Warner sichern. Vermutlich konnte das Team die Investoren mit einer neuen App überzeugen, welche „Hologramme“ in die echte Welt bringt. 8i verwendet hierzu die Google Tango Technologie und die volumetrischen Videoaufzeichnungen und bringt damit diese Videos in euer Wohnzimmer. Die Hologramme sind bei dieser Technologie aber nur auf dem Display des Smartphones oder Tablets sichtbar und erscheinen nicht wirklich in eurem Raum. Um die Anwendung zu nutzen, benötigt ihr also ein Smartphone mit Project Tango. Aktuell könnt ihr die App also beispielsweise mit dem Phab 2 Pro von Lenovo testen. Den kostenlosen Download findet ihr hier.

Die Idee von 8i ist sicherlich nicht verkehrt, doch die Limitierung auf das Display eines Smartphones oder Tablets wird die Anwendung noch nicht zu einer Killer-App machen. Sollten sich Mixed Reality Brillen aber durchsetzen und 8i stellt regelmäßig neue Aufzeichnungen bereit, dann könnte die Anwendung durchaus eine spannende Zukunft vor sich haben. Gleichzeitig möchte das Unternehmen aber nicht das Virtual Reality Geschäft aus den Augen verlieren. Laut 8i verfolgen beide Anwendungen unterschiedliche Ziele und deshalb möchte man auch beide Bereiche weiter ausbauen.

Phab 2 Pro
499,00 EUR
Zum Angebot
Total*: 503,99 EUR Versand*: 4,99 EUR s. Shop Preis kann jetzt höher sein.
Total*: 503,99 EUR Versand*: 4,99 EUR s. Shop Preis kann jetzt höher sein.
499,00 EUR
Zum Angebot
Total*: 506,99 EUR Versand*: 7,99 EUR s. Shop Preis kann jetzt höher sein.
Total*: 506,99 EUR Versand*: 7,99 EUR s. Shop Preis kann jetzt höher sein.

(Quelle: Road to VR)

Der Beitrag 8i erhält 27 Millionen US-Dollar an Investitionen und zeigt Holo App zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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8i Lands $27M in Series B Funding and Reveals Tango-powered Mixed Reality App ‘Holo’

Volumetric video specialists 8i have announced their latest series B funding round has netted them a further $27 while also unveiling Holo, a mixed reality video app, powered by Google’s Tango technology.

We first reported on 8i back in 2015, when they unveiled their 360 volumetric video capture system, capable of capturing imagery and data from different viewpoints and stitching them back together in realtime, allowing the video to be viewed from different angles.

Now, in addition to the company’s previous 2015 series A funding round, 8i have announced it’s to receive a further $27M in funds from a series of high profile investors including Baidu, Verizon and Time Warner.

Up to now, 8i’s focus has very much been on virtual reality, with an early version of their ‘3D Video’ player launching for the Oculus Rift, even before the consumer version had reached market. However, the company’s latest direction embraces the recent wave of consumer devices to include Google’s ‘Tango’ depth sensing and capture technology. It’s called Holo, and it purports to “bring holograms to consumers” via pre-recorded volumetric video and augmented reality. 8i is making extensive use of the word “hologram” in the colloquial sense, though technically speaking their work does not involve holograms in the optical sense.

The Lenovo Phab Pro 2
The Lenovo Phab Pro 2

“As consumers are augmenting, mixing and creating new content on their smartphones on a massive scale, mobile presents an unparalleled opportunity for distribution of holograms,” said 8i CEO Steve Raymond. “We’re thrilled to have the strategic expertise and backing of leaders in media, technology, and communications as we bring audiences new ways to create and engage with content. With this global round, we look forward to partnering with our investors from the US, China, Europe, and Australia as we bring our technology to consumers worldwide.”

The app, which allows users with Google Tango-enabled phones—such as the recently released Lenovo Phab 2 Pro—is in beta right now with a release set for some time this year. It allows users to capture video of their real world and drop pre-recorded volumetric video ‘avatars’ (captured by 8i) into the scene which then pan and rotate in real time, matching the camera’s movement.

SEE ALSO
Asus 'ZenFone AR' Google Tango, Daydream VR Phone Launched, Specs Revealed
8iStudiosVolCapRig_JonHamm
Actor John Hamm, being captured at 8i’s volumetric video studio

But while Holo looks like enormous fun, what of 8i’s plans for virtual reality? 8i CEO Steve Raymond says, “Our investment into mobile AR in no way diminishes our excitement for the many use cases that are emerging for our holograms in high end VR. What we are seeing are different kind of content creators embracing different forms of content for different consumption platforms.”

Holo is the first, low-cost entry step for content creation using their volumetric assets, but the company has already produced more ambitious projects with higher fidelity visuals, such as Buzz Aldrin’s Cycling Pathways to Mars (below), a “volumetric VR experience powered by 8i holographic technology and designed for HMD’s that enable 6-degrees of freedom,” which is due to premiere at SXSW next month.

8i-buzz-aldrin

“With VR and AR, we’re seeing the very beginning of a new generation of immersive media,” said Scott Levine of Time Warner Investments. “8i makes holographic human content a reality in this new era with its breakthrough volumetric capture technology, while lowering the barrier for creators. We’re excited to back this world-class team as they continue to push the boundaries of data compression and depth acquisition, and bring holograms to the mainstream with Holo on smartphones.”

We’re not sure what to make of Holo itself having not tried it just yet, but with the VR industry still in an embryonic state compared with more established media platforms, 8i’s multi-pronged approach to introducing its immersive technologies to a mass market audience with something fun and accessible is probably a smart move.

The post 8i Lands $27M in Series B Funding and Reveals Tango-powered Mixed Reality App ‘Holo’ appeared first on Road to VR.