Google could make two for Tango with 3D tablet plans

Google's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group has already announced plans for a smartphone dubbed Project Tango that can map out 3D environments, but a report suggests the same technology will be built into a line of tablets as well.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the boffins at ATAP have designed a seven-inch tablet that uses two back cameras along with an infrared depth sensor to allow the tablet to be used to map out physical objects and their surroundings.

Around 4,000 of the fancy fondleslabs have been prepared, according to the report, and Google is planning to release them at the end of June, at around the time it holds its annual I/O developer conference.

Given that Google has already announced the Project Tango smartphone, it seems likely that it would extend the technology to tablets, and the seven-inch form factor would tie in nicely with the existing Nexus 7 design.

If the report of a Tango fondleslab is true, it's unlikely that you're going to be seeing it in the shops any time soon. It's more likely that they will either be sent out to the cadre of Google developers or handed out at the I/O conference.

Google is hoping that developers can build applications to use the scanning capabilities of the Tango hardware. Suggested topics include providing guides for visually impaired people, building gaming maps based on actual rooms, and possibly augmenting Google Maps with interior details – Street View becoming Home View perhaps? ®