Intel to ship $99 3D RealSense camera, Android support in the works

Chip maker Intel is planning to add Android OS support to its latest RealSense R200 camera and sell it for US$99.

This camera is available for pre-order on Intel's website. The higher than expected demand for the product has led to temporary supply problems.  

Intel promises, however, to resume supply by this month, January 2016.  PC World reports this shipping date as unclear as the company did not respond to questions about availability.

PC World further states that this is a multidimensional camera and will work with tables or PCs running on Intel Core, Core M and Atom chips. It will plug directly into full-sized USB 3.0 ports,  It will also be compatible with USB Type-C or micro-USB 3.0 through a separate connector cable.

Similar to Microsoft's Kinect, the 3D RealSense camera can also recognize motion and gestures.  It can measure distances between objects and recognize items by identifying shapes and contours.

Measured at 9.5 millimeters thick and 102 millimeters long, this camera is significantly smaller than previous models.  Once shipping and supply have been normalized, the product will be available in the United States, Canada, China, Japan and the European Union.

A post at CIO details Intel's attempt to emulate Google's Project Tango in bringing augmented reality to tablets and PCs using the 3D RealSense camera.  The chipmaker company wants this camera to work with sensors so device screens can provide information about a user's location and objects in view.  They also want their 3D cameras to recognize moods by facial expression analysis and support for games and virtual worlds by mapping out surroundings.

As of present time, the RealSense software kit for the camera only works with Windows 8.1 or later, but Android support is coming.

Intel is hoping that developers' urge to experiment and play around with the RealSense camera will speed up support for other operating systems as well as unlocking new uses for it.

Tags

Intel, Intel RealSense Tech, 3D cameras, android, Windows 8.1, augmented reality

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