Fiat Chrysler leverages Google's Android-powered Project Tango to improve car shopping

I love cars, but hate shopping for them. My vehicle is a meager Ford Focus, but it took me a year to buy it. Why? Some car salespeople can be very high-pressure, but worst of all, negotiating a price is an exercise in frustration -- it took me a long time to find the right car at the right price.

Why is it that buying a car can't be more straightforward? Well, Fiat Chrysler may have part of the solution to that problem. By leveraging Project Tango, Google's Android-powered augmented reality solution, consumers will soon be able to experience the vehicle of their desires without entering a showroom.

"The prototype allows car buyers to hold a device and, using the integrated sensor technology and motion tracking, area learning, and depth perception from Project Tango, view, walk around, look inside and configure a life-size virtual car. On the Accenture demo, doors can be opened to reveal a realistic and detailed interior, where changes to upholstery colors or dashboard styles can be made with a tap on the device screen", says Fiat Chrysler.

The car company further explains, "Project Tango technology gives mobile devices the ability to navigate the physical world similar to how we do as humans. Project Tango brings a new kind of spatial perception to Android devices by adding advanced computer vision, image processing, and special vision sensors. A Project Tango device maps the 360-degree environment around it, meaning that as it is moved it navigates and views the changing environment in the same way as a person would. As the car is viewed through the device, the virtual car moves in relation to how the user moves".

Having the ability to not only customize the vehicle using the Android device, but to also see it in different in-person locations, makes this particularly amazing. Seeing a visual representation of the car on, say, your street, or at the beach near your house, really allows you to get a better feel for how it will fit into your life.

True, you should always experience a car in-person, including test-driving it, before purchasing. With that said, if you can rule out a vehicle from the comfort of your own home, you can save yourself a trip. Unfortunately, it is just a prototype for now.

Do you see value in Project Tango being used for the car-buying experience? Tell me in the comments.