Bowser with a mobile phone gaming.

Google Tango Phone Delivers True Augmented Reality Gaming

Pokemon Go made augmented reality cool. Now Google is taking it to a whole new level.

Hundreds of millions of smartphone owners around the globe have experienced augmented reality thanks to Pokemon Go, showing how powerful an experience can be with a software uses the real world to create a new reality.

Levono and Google have released the Phab 2 Pro to prove that augmented reality can become a cornerstone of the gaming community. Games like Night Terrors show the potential when your actual home is used as the location for a horror movie, while Woorld from the makers of Katamari shows the creativity unlocked when the real world is your playground. The potential is there, but can the Phab 2 Pro make it a reality?

The 2 Phab 2 Pro is selling for $499, and comes with an overwhelming 6.4-inch display, making it cumbersome to hold in one hand. However, what it lacks in practicality, it makes up for in the hardware, offering extra sensors to maximise the effectiveness of the augmented reality technology within.

Many of the early Tango apps use gesture control and real-world movements, so users do not need to place their fingers on the touchscreen, allowing the scene to play out on the screen without any interference or fingers blocking the action.

While the Phab 2 Pro may not be the perfect phone or even the best gaming device, it will lay the foundations for the future of augmented reality in the gaming industry. Pokemon Go has shown that the market is there with the right premise, but the Tango Phone will now attempt to tap into the hardcore gamer market to create experiences that only a capable device such as this can deliver.