A new experience has arrived for smartphone users. It's Tango, the augmented reality technology from Google and Lenovo, now available on the Phab 2 Pro.
After more than two years of development, Google has finally officially launched its Tango augmented reality system for smartphones. The chosen device is the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, which recently went on sale, being an upper mid-range phone with a huge 6.4-inch screen and a large battery. For now, this program supports thirty-five applications with mixed results.
For gamers, Tango undoubtedly offers the opportunity for a more intense gaming session. Titles like Pokémon GO and Crayola Color Blaster show the potential of augmented reality when playing in the real world.
But the problem arises with non-game applications. For example, iStaging is an app that lets you place furniture to decorate the inside of your home and see how a new lamp would look on the nightstand. So far so good, but sometimes Tango takes a while to load these apps or gets confused, especially when focusing on a reflective surface, causing certain objects not to appear on the screen.
On the other hand, Tango has undergone some organizational changes at Google since it was first introduced. The program is now operated directly alongside Google Daydream, the virtual reality platform created by the company.
The idea is that Tango and Daydream can be unified soon. The opportunities offered by Tango in terms of position tracking that could be applied to virtual reality would provide a great advantage if a smartphone compatible with both Tango and Daydream were released. For now, there aren't too many apps available, and the presence of bugs and limitations makes one think twice before buying a smartphone for exclusive use of the program.
The Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is the first Tango phone, now available for $499, and it is expected that next year this program will be available on several Android phones.
