Google's crazy augmented reality smartphone project is finally becoming a reality

Tango - Google's plan to stick revolutionary augmented reality technology into smartphones - is finally becoming a reality for consumers.

The search and mobile giant is teaming up with Lenovo to realise a monster smartphone - the 6.4-inch Phab2 - which is scheduled to go on sale in September.

Augmented reality (AR) is the sister technology of virtual reality (VR) - and is arguably much cooler.

VR cuts you off from the world around you: You stick your headset on and dive into a totally virtual world, with no clue about your real surroundings. AR, in contrast, overlays a virtual world on top of the real one.

Microsoft's Hololens is one of the more famous AR projects right now. It's a transparent headset you wear that tracks where you are in the room and overlays virtual items in your vision. You might have a Skype call window sitting above the kitchen sink, while you're busy playing a game on the kitchen table, and a news website floats beside you keeping you up to date.

The Phab2 isn't a headset though - it's a phone. Using a depth sensor and motion-tracking, its camera can track where you are in a room, and then overlay virtual objects on the screen.

The Phab2 is going on sale $499, and will have 25 Tango-enabled apps at launch, according to The Verge - with Lenovo aiming for 100 by the end of the year.

Google's website for Tango - formerly called Project Tango - suggests a few ways the tech could come in handy:

• As a tool. "Measure your surroundings with 3D tools, then re-imagine them with virtual furniture, appliances and more," its website says.
• For games. "Bring virtual objects into your world-from toys to planets to pets-and play with them like they're actually there."
• To augment the wider world. Tango's augmented reality could add another layer to shops and museums by showing more information to those who want it.

You can't really get a sense for Tango's tech until you see it in action. Here is it simulating a dinosaur on a table.

And here it is being used to play a game in someone's living room. It augments the real world, rather than replacing it.

Keep reading for videos of Tango and the Phab2 Pro in action...