Google's Move to Make AR Accessible to Everyone: The Rise and Fall of Project Tango

Just weeks after the release of the ZenFone AR, Google announced an ambitious project that would make augmented reality (AR) accessible to everyone, not just those with specialized hardware. This move marked a significant shift in the company's strategy for bringing AR capabilities to Android devices. At its core, Google's software-only AR program, dubbed "a4core," aims to provide developers with a platform to build AR apps that can run on any Android phone.

The announcement came as a surprise to many, especially considering that Google had previously invested heavily in Project Tango, a hardware-centric approach to developing AR experiences. While Tango was designed for specific devices and use cases, a4core is designed to work seamlessly on any Android device, making it an attractive option for developers who want to reach a wider audience.

So why did Google decide to abandon the Tango approach? According to industry insiders, the company realized that there were several factors working against Project Tango. Firstly, the number of consumer devices with Tango hardware was extremely low, around 0.00001%. This limited the potential market for Tango-based AR apps, making it a challenging proposition for developers who wanted to make a profit.

Another significant factor was Apple's recent announcement of AR Kit, a similar concept that aimed to bring AR capabilities to iOS devices. With both Google and Apple vying for dominance in the AR space, it became clear that creating a new platform from scratch might not be the most effective strategy. Instead, Google decided to leverage its existing resources and expertise to develop a software-only approach that could be integrated into Android devices.

From a technical standpoint, a4core builds upon the work done by Project Tango. While Tango's hardware-based approach provided accurate depth sensing and object tracking, a4core uses machine learning algorithms to achieve similar results on devices with limited or no specialized hardware. This shift in focus has allowed Google to tap into the vast market potential of Android devices, making AR more accessible to consumers worldwide.

However, there is one significant difference between a4core and Tango: accuracy and speed. Tango's infrared camera and other depth sensing technologies provide unparalleled accuracy and speed for tracking objects in space. While a4core can deliver decent results, it may not match the level of precision offered by Tango, particularly in complex scenarios like measuring large areas or navigating factory floors.

Tango's hardware-centric approach has also proven useful in B2B applications, where companies need to develop customized AR experiences for their employees or customers. The high accuracy and speed provided by Tango make it an attractive option for these use cases, which could justify the cost of specialized hardware.

In recent weeks, Google has been integrating some of the key technologies from Project Tango into a4core. While this means that developers can tap into Tango's strengths without needing to purchase specialized hardware, it also raises questions about the future of Project Tango. Did Google always plan to abandon the hardware-centric approach in favor of software-only? Or did they realize their mistake and pivot mid-stream?

One thing is certain: Google's decision to focus on a4core has sent shockwaves through the AR development community. As the company continues to refine and improve its software, we can expect to see more innovative AR experiences emerge from Android devices in the months to come.

For consumers, the real question is whether this shift will affect their purchasing decisions. With both a4core and Tango offering similar performance for simple use cases like playing tabletop games or measuring furniture, it may not be worth investing in specialized hardware just yet. As Google continues to develop and refine its software, we can expect to see more affordable options emerge that offer comparable performance to Tango.

In the end, Google's decision to pivot from Project Tango to a4core marks a significant shift in the company's strategy for bringing AR capabilities to Android devices. While Tango will likely continue to be used in B2B applications and other niche use cases, a4core has opened up new opportunities for developers and consumers alike. As we move forward, it will be exciting to see how Google continues to develop and refine its software, and how the AR community responds to this bold new approach.

If you have any thoughts or opinions on Google's shift from Project Tango to a4core, please feel free to share them in the comments below. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this video with your friends and family. It means a lot to us, and we appreciate your support. Thanks for watching!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGoogle dropped the project moniker in front of project tango back in June of this year it's a signal that it was finally out of beta and that this new a our hardware focused program was ready for the mainstream to consumer devices were launched including the Lenovo fab 2 pro and the Asus zenfone AR these devices have some extra hardware to help them sense where you are in the world as well as where other items are super important in AR applications obviously these include a barometer for elevation dedicated motion tracking camera dedicated for read depth sensing camera a high megapixel traditional camera to help it with viewing objects etc and all in all sounds like a great recipe for AR apps right well just weeks after the zenfone AR was released Google did something odd they announced a our core which is their software only AR program which will work essentially on any Android phone as opposed to tango which require specific hardware in specific devices so now doesn't that kind of kill tango like why would you go out and buy a specialized phone to do AR when Google just released something that's gonna make AR be able to work on your current Android phone to answer that first we need to talk about why Google launched a our core and it comes down to developers and scale people are all excited about AR its new it's cool to see is a lot more real-world uses than VR frankly but the amount of apps for it out there is still super limited the reason being that tangos inherent issue is the fact that there are only two consumer devices out and the total market share by device rounded up to the nearest hundredth is zero point zero zero percent now let's combine that with the fact that Apple just weeks before air core was announced announced AR kit the same concept of bringing air capabilities to iOS devices and it's pretty clear what both companies are trying to do and why Google didn't have much choice give developers hundreds of millions and even billions of potential devices already out in the wild that could run their AR apps yeah that many devices that you know if you're trying to make money from your AR app that just sounds better right now the real question comes down to which one would you choose now technically you probably won't have a choice not too long from now I imagine that Google will probably just start taking some of the bits and pieces from tango and putting them into Android phones without really telling you that they're there or promoting too much that they're kind of like what they're doing with daydream like it'll just be in there and I'll have a certification and you won't really you're gonna buy one regardless but that's just my thought but for the sake of the fact that both of these are actually out right now and you could kind of go different routes like maybe buy a tango phone why would you well the big thing that sets tango apart from a our core is accuracy and speed tango with its infrared camera and other depth sensing tech is much better at putting objects in space and then keeping them there even if you leave the room and come back it uses the actual 3d map data it's gathered instead of simply noticing planes in a video feed and tracking those like AR core does and they are kit for that matter they are core and Eric again work just fine when used on a table for example and decent and more complicated things but let's say you wanted to accurately measure an entire room a building whatever with curbs ridges Peaks etc tango will always wait it's really the bigger thing for tango I think right now is more b2b stuff so for example if you're a giant company and you have all these factories and crazy factory floors that people need to navigate it might behoove you to actually go buy like an Asus zenfone they are a bunch of them and then actually develop your own customized app for that to help people navigate those factories or find specific items or do any of that stuff if you could justify the price of all that because it's just gonna be more accurate it's just gonna work better a lot better than say a our kit or a our core will but if you're a consumer and you're just trying to play tabletop games and measure a dresser or any of that kind of stuff it doesn't quite make sense for you to go out and buy a device particularly for tango when you're gonna get pretty much the same performance clothes at least for those type of things on the phone that you already have soon enough a lot of things in project tango have been instrumental in helping to make a our core better and it has after all been around since 2014 and has been done in conjunction with a crap-ton of developers and developing companies my big question through all this though is did Google know they were gonna kill tango like his tango always just been an experiment and a our core was really the goal or is this something they kind of realized they needed to do after the fact and did they ever tell a sous any of this when they signed on to make be zenfone AR let me know if you guys think in the comments below we'd love to hear from you guys if you like this video though please thumbs up it share it subscribe all that fun stuff is greatly appreciated and if anything else regardless thanks for watchingGoogle dropped the project moniker in front of project tango back in June of this year it's a signal that it was finally out of beta and that this new a our hardware focused program was ready for the mainstream to consumer devices were launched including the Lenovo fab 2 pro and the Asus zenfone AR these devices have some extra hardware to help them sense where you are in the world as well as where other items are super important in AR applications obviously these include a barometer for elevation dedicated motion tracking camera dedicated for read depth sensing camera a high megapixel traditional camera to help it with viewing objects etc and all in all sounds like a great recipe for AR apps right well just weeks after the zenfone AR was released Google did something odd they announced a our core which is their software only AR program which will work essentially on any Android phone as opposed to tango which require specific hardware in specific devices so now doesn't that kind of kill tango like why would you go out and buy a specialized phone to do AR when Google just released something that's gonna make AR be able to work on your current Android phone to answer that first we need to talk about why Google launched a our core and it comes down to developers and scale people are all excited about AR its new it's cool to see is a lot more real-world uses than VR frankly but the amount of apps for it out there is still super limited the reason being that tangos inherent issue is the fact that there are only two consumer devices out and the total market share by device rounded up to the nearest hundredth is zero point zero zero percent now let's combine that with the fact that Apple just weeks before air core was announced announced AR kit the same concept of bringing air capabilities to iOS devices and it's pretty clear what both companies are trying to do and why Google didn't have much choice give developers hundreds of millions and even billions of potential devices already out in the wild that could run their AR apps yeah that many devices that you know if you're trying to make money from your AR app that just sounds better right now the real question comes down to which one would you choose now technically you probably won't have a choice not too long from now I imagine that Google will probably just start taking some of the bits and pieces from tango and putting them into Android phones without really telling you that they're there or promoting too much that they're kind of like what they're doing with daydream like it'll just be in there and I'll have a certification and you won't really you're gonna buy one regardless but that's just my thought but for the sake of the fact that both of these are actually out right now and you could kind of go different routes like maybe buy a tango phone why would you well the big thing that sets tango apart from a our core is accuracy and speed tango with its infrared camera and other depth sensing tech is much better at putting objects in space and then keeping them there even if you leave the room and come back it uses the actual 3d map data it's gathered instead of simply noticing planes in a video feed and tracking those like AR core does and they are kit for that matter they are core and Eric again work just fine when used on a table for example and decent and more complicated things but let's say you wanted to accurately measure an entire room a building whatever with curbs ridges Peaks etc tango will always wait it's really the bigger thing for tango I think right now is more b2b stuff so for example if you're a giant company and you have all these factories and crazy factory floors that people need to navigate it might behoove you to actually go buy like an Asus zenfone they are a bunch of them and then actually develop your own customized app for that to help people navigate those factories or find specific items or do any of that stuff if you could justify the price of all that because it's just gonna be more accurate it's just gonna work better a lot better than say a our kit or a our core will but if you're a consumer and you're just trying to play tabletop games and measure a dresser or any of that kind of stuff it doesn't quite make sense for you to go out and buy a device particularly for tango when you're gonna get pretty much the same performance clothes at least for those type of things on the phone that you already have soon enough a lot of things in project tango have been instrumental in helping to make a our core better and it has after all been around since 2014 and has been done in conjunction with a crap-ton of developers and developing companies my big question through all this though is did Google know they were gonna kill tango like his tango always just been an experiment and a our core was really the goal or is this something they kind of realized they needed to do after the fact and did they ever tell a sous any of this when they signed on to make be zenfone AR let me know if you guys think in the comments below we'd love to hear from you guys if you like this video though please thumbs up it share it subscribe all that fun stuff is greatly appreciated and if anything else regardless thanks for watching\n"