谷歌新手机原型将配置3D深度传感器

谷歌（Google）公司日前宣布开发出一款内建深度传感器与动作追踪影像传感器的5吋 Android手机原型。这款手机原型是一项名为“Project Tango”的计划历经一年的研发成果。根据谷歌网站上的数据显示，这款 3D 追踪手机可提供定位与追踪地图解决方案，同时还可作为新式游戏与机器人应用的平台。 该公司表示将提供在该计划中所打造的200个手机原型给软件开发商，让他们得以开发应用程序。“我们希望合作伙伴能协助推动这项技术，并在这个平台上打造出更好的用户体验，”谷歌在其网站上表示。

谷歌手机原型搭载中阶影像传感器，并区隔出动作追踪与深度感测功能
Source：GoogleDGtesmc

虽然谷歌并未明确指出这款深度传感器的供货商，但从《Project Tango》计划来看，唯一一家影像传感器合作伙伴就是OmniVision Technologies。其他还值得注意的合作伙伴还包括惯性 MEMS传感器供应商Bosch、Myriad 1视觉处理器供应商Movidius，以及提供3D扫描转换为计算机模型的软件供应商Paracosm。 “我们的目标是让移动设备达到人类层级的空间与动作理解能力，”谷歌先进技术与计划部门的《Project Tango》项目负责人Johnny Chung Lee表示。

DGtesmc

谷歌目前打造的原型是一款5吋的 Android 手机，以及专门设计的客制化硬件与软件，可在追踪手机 3D 动作的同时，利用影像与深度传感器以每秒250,000次的速度进行3D测量，从而为所在环境建立 3D 地图。该 Android 手机原型还包括开发 API ，能以 Java 、 C/C++ 等语言以及Unity Game Engine，为标准的 Android 应用程序提供定位、方向与深度数据。然而，这些早期的原型、算法与 API 目前仍正积极地开发中。 但增添追踪与 3D绘图功能将会带来多少功耗？谷歌并未对此提供任何信息。这可能是因为功耗相当可观，而且不仅要利用到特定应用的处理器(如Myriad-1)来尽量降低功耗，同时还要在这款手机商用化以前加以改善。 谷歌并未说明内建3D深度传感器的手机何时可上市。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译：Susan Hong 参考英文原文：Google Prototypes Depth-Sensing Mobile Phone，by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Google Prototypes Depth-Sensing Mobile Phone Peter Clarke Google has announced that is has developed a prototype Android five-inch mobile phone that includes a depth sensor alongside a motion-tracking image sensor. The phone is the result of a one-year R&D initiative called Project Tango. According to material at the Google website this 3D-tracking phone could provide a solution to location mapping and tracking, as well as being a platform for new types of games and for robotics applications. The company says it will hand out part of an initial build of 200 prototypes of the phone to software developers for them to develop applications on. "We want partners who will push the technology forward and build great user experiences on top of this platform," said Google on its website. Although Google does not indicate who has provided the depth sensor, it is notable that the only image sensor vendor in the Project Tango partnership is OmniVision Technologies Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. Other notable partners include inertial MEMS sensor provider Bosch; Movidius Ltd. of Dublin, the vendor of the Myriad 1 vision processor; and Paracosm of Gainsville, Fla., which offers software that converts 3D scans into computer models. "Our goal is to give mobile devices a human-scale understanding of space and motion," said Johnny Chung Lee, project leader for Project Tango at Advanced Technology and Projects at Google. The current prototype is a five-inch mobile phone with custom hardware and software designed to track the 3D motion of the device while creating a 3D map of the environment using its image and depth sensors to make more than a quarter million 3D measurements per second. The Android phone includes development APIs to provide position, orientation, and depth data to standard Android applications written in Java, C/C++, and the Unity Game Engine. However, these early prototypes, algorithms, and APIs are still in active development. Remi El-Ouazzane CEO of Movidius, commented: "Project Tango is truly a groundbreaking platform, and we look forward to seeing the innovation the developer community achieves with unprecedented access to the Movidius Vision Processor." Google did not provide any information on how much power is consumed by the tracking and 3D-mapping function. It is likely that this is considerable. Not only might application-specific processors such as Myriad-1 be required to minimize energy consumption, but improvements also may be required before the function can be deployed in a commercial phone. Google did not indicate how soon a depth-sensing phone might be released.