A project at the University of
Minnesota would allow a user to hold up a smartphone and create indoor maps in
three dimensions. A $1.35 million grant from Google is helping to pay for it. The
work is part of the company’s recently announced Project Tango, a cellphone
optimized for 3D mapping.Homeowners could use the software to create a virtual
tour of their houses before putting them up for sale.
The software could also help the
blind walk through a building or aid a drone aircraft in navigating. While the
software is being designed to work on a prototype of the new Google smartphone,
it will also work on existing smartphones. Notably, it doesn’t use much
processing power, about as much as the game Angry Birds.
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