Intel joins Google’s 3D Project Tango

20 August, 2015

Both are based on Israeli 3D camera technologies: Goggle's version is using Mantis Vision's technology, and Intel's Projecr Tango version includes RealSense camera, that was developed in Haifa

Both are based on Israeli 3D camera technologies: Goggle’s version is using Mantis Vision’s technology, and Intel’s Projecr Tango version includes RealSense camera, that was developed in Haifa

Intel's CEO Brian Krzanich introduce the RealSense based Smartphone — Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich introduce the RealSense based Smartphone

RealSense, Intel’s 3D technology that was developed in Haifa, Israel, came this week to the center stage when CEO Brian Krzanich dedicated his opening address at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), to his vision of Intel RealSense technology everywhere. He revealed unknown collaboration with Google in mobile depth sensing by combining Project Tango and Intel RealSense technologies into an Android Smartphone developer kit.

The Intel RealSense Smartphone prototype features an Intel RealSense Camera and will be based on Atom x5 Quad-Core Z8500 processor. It will support dense 3D depth mapping at VGA resolution 60fps. In collaboration with Google, a group of developers in Haifa, led by Gila Kimchi, have developed an Android smartphone developer kit targeted for release to select Android developers by the end of this year. The kit enables indoor navigation and area learning, virtual reality, 3-D scanning, and more.

Project Tango demonstration for 3D Games

Later, Intel plans to expand the development kit beyond Windows and Android, to other platforms including Mac OS X, ROS, Linux, Scratch, Unity, XSplit, OBS, Structure SDK, OSVR and Unreal Engine 4. Google’s existing Project Tango device is a tablet which incorporates depth camera made by Mantis Vision from Petach Tikva, Israel.

Both cameras based on Structured Light principle. It projects infrared light pattern onto the observed scene or object for depth capture. Then the camera captures the reflected lights, analyse its deformed shapes, and calculates the surfase propreties, thus producing 3D information.

Following the Intel-Google cooperation, project tango includes now two hardware platforms: Google tablet with Envidia processor and Mantis camera, and intel smatphone with RealSense camera and Intel processor.

What is the next step? a small group of engineers in the Intel’s research center in Haifa began to play with RealSense robotics. They run the Savioke robotic platform, to evaluate the use of RealSense during robotics missions such as friendly vending machine or mechanical spiders. You may say that RealSense will give real sense to robotic systems.