Announced in 2014, Tango was an early effort at AR. Though it had its drawbacks, like hardware requirements that limited it to certain devices like the ASUS Zenphone AR that had multi-camera IR setups on them, it played an important role in the early stages of AR development.
Google will cease support of the platform on March 1, 2018. The news comes as no surprise as Google’s new baby, the ARCore has gained widespread adoption, bringing AR to regular smart devices. Introduced in August, ARCore is a direct competition to Apple’s ARKit.
“Thank you to our incredible community of developers who made such progress with Tango over the last three years,” the company said in a tweet.
We’re turning down support for Tango on March 1, 2018. Thank you to our incredible community of developers who made such progress with Tango over the last three years. We look forward to continuing the journey with you on ARCore. https://t.co/aYiSUkgyie
— Tango (@projecttango) December 15, 2017
The motive behind Tango, according to Google’s AR/VR head Clay Bavor, was to prove that the core technology was indeed possible. It led to other companies like Apple to invest in smartphone AR.
Augmented reality removes the barrier between the physical and digital worlds, bringing them closer together. AR superimposes objects and information on real world around us using cameras, making the usage easier, intuitive and more fun.
Smart phone AR is the way ahead for the technology and it is predictable that soon the tech will see adoption by masses. It is already in use in the form of stickers and some games. There is also a large amount of experimentation going on to make it more useful. It has the power to revolutionize the way we interact with technology and the world around us; shopping, travel and entertainment in particular.
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