Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze

The Palau Nacional (Catalan for National Palace) is a gigantic Renaissance-style palace built in 1929 that now serves as the main art museum in Barcelona. Google sent me into that gorgeous maze of never-ending halls and corridors armed only with a Project Tango Prototype.

We already know that Lenovo and Google are making a phablet that uses the crazy Project Tango tech. What we didn’t know for certain were the uses for that technology. At MWC I discovered that it is a pretty solid indoor navigation system when you have no GPS, no Wi-Fi and no clue.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Getting out of here without a map is not an easy task.

I can confirm that is reeeeally easy to get lost in the halls and corridors of the Palau Nacional. Yet Project Tango manages to know its (and my) exact position just scanning its whereabouts. You move the tablet left to right in front of you, allowing Project Tango to visually ascertain your location, and a virtual trail of blue dots appears to guide you.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Go forth Project Tango. Be my guide.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Following my guide.

Of course, once you are not lost any more, why not enjoying some fine arts? When you get close to a designated point, the software let you scan a painting and explore some of its points for extra info in a nice augmented reality setup.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Art!

The system is far from perfect. If too many people cross the path of the camera, Project Tango looses the trail and you have to stop and scan patiently around you to let the software find your position again.

It doesn’t work in any place either. Before it can work someone has to visit it with the app and map the surroundings. The map can then be downloaded and shared.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Map!

Despite that, the Project Tango “Indoor” ability is an unexpected and welcome tool that may be very useful for navigating tricky modern mazes like shopping centres or central train stations.

It’s at least better than leaving breadcrumbs all along the way.

Using Nothing But Google’s Project Tango Tablet To Escape A Maze
Tablet!

Images: Carlos Zahumenszky

Museum Image: Wikipedia Commons


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.