Google's VPS indoor navigation is a game-changer for the visually impaired

Everyone knows how useful GPS is for navigating the world outdoors, but what about indoors?

At its Google I/O developers conference, Google announced a new technology called Visual Positioning Service (VPS), a Tango-enabled mapping system that uses augmented reality on phones and tablets to help navigate indoor locations.

Imagine holding up your Tango-ready phone inside of, say, a large warehouse-like store like Lowe's or Ikea, and instead of getting lost you follow turn-by-turn directions to get you to the right aisle and exact shelf where the item you want is.

Google says VPS makes use of machine learning, computer vision and mapping coordinates to do just that. It all sounds great, but until we see in practice, it's hard to tell exactly how precise VPS is.

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Along with audio interfaces, Google says VPS could help the visually impaired find their way around the world, where they previously would have had difficulties.

VPS builds on what Tango started with its indoor mapping navigation experiment.

The first consumer Tango-enabled phone launched late last year from Lenovo, but it was a rather large clunker of a device.

Asus's Zenfone AR, a much smaller phone with Tango, will launch later this year.