Cardboard++: Google’s first real VR headset could use Project Tango
Weren’t we just talking about a revealing job posting looking for hardware engineers for virtual reality? That post made us ponder whether Google was working on a more sophisticated virtual reality headset than the paper-clad Cardboard.
Well, this Googler’s LinkedIn profile is very interesting. Isaac Taylor — who had a heavy hand in Google Glass before it quietly fell off the face of the planet — seems to have filled a spot at Google’s brand new VR division. His task?
In January I began working with the AR & VR teams on Project Tango and Cardboard++.
Project Tango we know much about already — it’s a phone or tablet that can make use of advanced cameras to do some serious 3D mapping — but what’s Cardboard++? Is it what this guy was wearing at Google I/O way back in 2014?
That’s right — what you see is a Project Tango tablet cradled inside a virtual reality head unit.
We’re not sure what, exactly, would be in store, but the fact that the Project Tango and Cardboard teams are working this closely together suggests they could be looking to fuse the two worlds together. It could be a perfect match to make for some very unique experiences. Perhaps it’s close to something like Microsoft’s HoloLens, which augments the world around you with games, interfaces, video, apps and objects.
The difference here is that you could enjoy the best of both worlds: populate the world around you with stuff, or step into an entirely new world altogether. That sounds exactly like the sort of thing Google would aim to achieve.
Of course, that’s just an educated guess. Without more concrete or official information we’re left to our imagination (and an ungodly amount of digging) to figure out what’s going on behind the doors of Google’s exciting new division, but with Google I/O around the corner we’re hoping it won’t take long before they spill all the details we crave.
[via 9to5 Google]