androidexperiments
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Google Sprayscapes lets you build surreal 360-degree landscapes
Google has long held a reputation for being an experimental company, so it was notable that it felt the need to build Android Experiments, the platform it launched last year to show developers how weird you can get when building smartphone apps. The crazy interactive "paper planes" demo Google showed off at its I/O developer conference earlier this year is a perfect example of what the company is encouraging developers to do with Android Experiments. All developers are encouraged to build Android Experiments, but today Google is launching one of its own called Sprayscape. It's a weird name, but fairly accurate once you start using the app: It turns whatever your camera sees into a virtual spray paint gun that lets you splash the landscape around a 360-degree virtual canvas. The phone's gyroscope is used to orient your position inside that sphere.
Google wants developers making crazy Android experiments
Last year, Google launched a site promoting innovative Android experiments on phones, tablets and smartwatches. Anything was game, provided it ran on top of Android or Android Wear. Now, with less than two months to go before its next I/O developer conference, Google is putting the call out for some new, equally brain-melting ideas. The kicker is that the best three submissions will get I/O tickets in order to show off their projects to attendees. A further five runner-ups will get a Nexus 6P.
ICYMI: Robot barkeeps, Android Experiments and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-618936{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-618936, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-618936{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-618936").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: We take on two pieces of robot news, both of which seem promising for different reasons. First, a robot with responsive, human reflexes is being designed to enter dangerous situations where a real person might be injured. The secret is that the controller is a guy wearing a matching robot exoskeleton. Then, more MIT scientists executed an algorithm that allows robots to actually buzz around and serve alcohol. Obviously, we're fans of that. Lastly, Google unveiled a video describing its Android Experiments project and some of the applications are super interesting.
Google's Android Experiments show what your devices can do
Google has Chrome Experiments to showcase what's possible in its web browser, so it stands to reason that there should be an equivalent for Android, doesn't it? Sure enough, the folks in Mountain View have launched an Android Experiments gallery that demonstrates what Google-powered mobile and wearable devices can do. In many cases, the 20 inaugural experiments take direct advantage of sensors and remote connections. Tilt (above) uses motion sensors to recreate the classic put-the-ball-in-the-hole game, while IOIO Plotter draws flip charts through an Android-controlled board. On Android Wear, the Time Mesh watch face twists and bends based on your movement. The hope is that app makers will use these experiments as springboards for their own ambitious projects -- if you notice that Android apps are markedly more creative in the near future, you'll know who to thank.
