You probably have heard about Tango, Google’s AR platform for Android devices, that uses computer vision to give devices the ability of motion tracking. If so, you may be interested in developing an augmented reality project with such features, so here is our short guide how to set Unity for usage of Tango.
Let’s start with things you will need to develop Tango applications in Unity:
- Unity version 5.2.1 or later is necessary. It has to be setup for Android development.
- Tango Unity SDK.
- Android SDK with package level 17 or later.
When you have downloaded all of above, plug your device into your computer. If your device isn’t recognised, install Google USB Driver. You should see a “USB debugging connected” icon in the notifications area. If you can’t see it, you have to enable USB debugging on your device.
If this is going to be your first Android project in Unity, you will be asked to locate the folder in which you have installed Android SDK earlier.
After that, you will have to set up Android API and you can do it by going to File >Build Settings >Android>Player Settings…, then navigate to Other Settings. There you can find a field named Minimum API Level which has to be set for Android 4.2 ‘Jelly Bean’ (APK level 17) or newer.
If you want to learn more, I suggest to also read Tango’s Motion Tracking How-to guide for developers at any experience level. It will show you how to start with a simple Motion Tracking app. For devs on a higher experience level, Google prepared their Unity code sample to use and review.
Those are basics you need to know to start your Tango development. When all of above is done, your Tango project will be set up and you can start developing your own AR projects on Tango! 🙂