Google Wants to Map the Insides of Buildings

One day, Google Maps will not only take you right up to the door of the building you’re looking for, but maybe to the exact room inside. Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is working on a project they're calling Tango that would allow it to make 3D digital maps of indoor spaces, Bloomberg reports.

This is how Bloomberg describes it:

Tango packs cameras and depth sensors along with other software into Android smartphones and tablets. Fire up the application and point the device at a space and it sucks in images and depth information to re-create the environment on the screen and locates itself within that new digital realm.

Using cameras and depth sensors embedded into smartphones and tablets, Tango could map a space inch by inch. Users would be able to map indoor spaces themselves, then publish them to stitch together a Google Maps of interiors.

Eventually, independent developers would be able to access Tango and harness it to build virtual reality applications, potentially using it for video games, interactive museum apps, and more. Instead of flagging a bag boy down to ask where a grocery store keeps its vanilla extract, you could just search for it on an app and be directed straight to the correct shelf. You could search for stores and restaurants in your airport terminal while you're still waiting in line for security. And of course, you'll never have to ask someone where the bathroom is again.

Google is set to show off its progress on Tango at a Silicon Valley conference later this month.

[h/t Bloomberg]