With Amazon’s supposed 3D-capable smartphone headed our way inside a week, it’s once again time to discuss why 3D phones aren’t the smartest buy right off the bat. What we’re speaking about here is the purchase of a 3D-capable smartphone when it’s released - in its first iteration, at the start of the 3D environment coming to the mobile smart device world. There aren’t many devices out there to use as examples.
Amazon's long-expected smartphone has been the subject of ever-increasing leaks, something that isn't surprising given its anticipated launch on June 18. Ahead of the launch, word has surfaced from anonymous sources claiming the 3D aspect will be powered by Omron's Okao Vision technology.
Google’s Project Tango is one of those ideas that seems cool enough to want, but a bit mystifying to grasp. We’ve seen the 3D capability before, but how is it done? Google has partnered with Mantis Vision to bring their MV4D technology to both Project Tango devices. Making use of the various cameras throughout, MV4D technology could someday make its way to your smartphone or tablet, too.
Google's Project Tango is set to spawn a new device, so the leaks would have it, with the company tipped to be readying 4,000 prototype 3D scanning tablets just in time for Google I/O late in June. Whether they'll be I/O giveaways or something else is unclear at this stage, though the goal is believed to be furnishing developers ahead of a broader launch. What's interesting, however, is that Google already had a Project Tango tablet: in fact, it replaced it with the current developer device.
Google's Project Tango could be in for an expansion next month, if sources that spoke to The Wall Street Journal are correct. Reportedly, the tech giant is prepping for the production of 4,000 prototype Project Tango tablets, with production set to kick off in June.
Where exactly am I? That’s the question Nokia is facing, not in its position following the Microsoft deal that will see it shed its phone business, but in how it’s constructing the next-generation of mapping data that’s clever enough to give Google Maps sleepless nights. The HERE team calls it an "HD Map" - taking traditional cartography and putting it on steroids - and it’s one of the main pillars the Nokia platform of tomorrow is expected to stand on.
Google's Project Tango 3D mapping phones are in short supply - only around 200 out in the wild for developers to try - but that hasn't stopped a teardown on the camera-smothered prototype to reveal its hardware magic. A non-functioning unit was loaned to iFixit to suffer its screwdrivers, exposing the various lenses which Google relies upon to create real-time 3D renders of the environment around it.
Who would have thought mist to be the key element that marries interaction to technology? Take a look at the innovative MisTable, the brainchild of Professor Sriram Subramanian and Dr Diego Martinez Plasencia from the University of Bristol's Department of Computer Science. The simple tabletop combines mist (or fog) with a conventional horizontal interactive system, giving life to 2D images and making them appear three-dimensional via simple manipulations.
It’s not every day that you see an internet-based 3D engine pushing a game to virtual reality with one line of code. That’s what’s been demoed this week as HTML5 loomed over the crowd at Microsoft’s BUILD 2014 developers convention. It’s just one line of code with the Babylon.js 3D engine and a game is converted from 2D to fully Oculus Rift-ready.
The convenience of 3D printing has moved away from industrial design and products to architecture. We are not talking about scale models to showcase the blueprints or interiors, but in fact full-scale homes. The 3D Print Canal House designed by Dus Architects is as close to a concept structure as it is to art, and will soon dot the landscape of Amsterdam.
News of Facebook splashing out $2bn to buy virtual reality headset startup Oculus has prompted not only surprise but horror among developers and fans, with the company facing a sizable backlash as the news spreads. Developers and would-be gamers waiting for the consumer Rift headset have reacted for the most part negatively, accusing Oculus of "selling out" and voicing concerns that the project will wither and die at Mark Zuckerberg's hand.
Google loves smartphones, but with Project Tango it’s hoping to make them even smarter and more aware. The handiwork of Google’s skunkworks Advanced Technology and Projects Group, it explores what happens when you add high-resolution 3D mapping sensors to an Android device, and what the potential is for gaming and more. We caught up with Johnny Lee, technical program lead at Google, to find out more about the project and get some hands-on time with the prototype device.
