LG Is Making A Google Project Tango Device For 2015

Google's Project Tango team is working with LG to release a commercial device based on the platform, expected to hit store shelves in 2015. The partnership, revealed at Google IO 2014 during a presentation from Google's ATAP team of skunkworks, will see LG follow the recently-launched Project Tango developer tablet with a version intended for the everyday consumer.

Exact hardware specifications of the LG device are unclear at this stage. In fact, it's not even clear what form-factor LG will be using: Google's last prototype for Project Tango was a smartphone, for instance, while its most recent is a 7-inch tablet.

What's been confirmed is the sort of software engines developers will be taking advantage of. Google is working with the Unity engine, Unreal Engine 4, and Qualcomm's Vuforia platform for augmented reality.

Inside the LG device is more than likely to be NVIDIA's Tegra K1 chipset, which is the high-power processor in the current Project Tango tablet for devs. It's paired with a number of custom sensors, including depth sensors, higher-resolution cameras for the "foveal" central portion of vision, as well as broader lenses to give Tango the equivalent of peripheral vision.