Despite selling Motorola to Lenovo in 2014, Google retained the Advanced Technologies and Projects group. Projects like Ara never came to fruition, but Tango merged into Google AR & VR, while Jacquard is a purchasable product today. One other project was Spotlight Stories, which Google is now shutting down.
A hold over from Motorola, Spotlight Stories have surprisingly outlived ATAP’s Project Ara and even gained more recognition. Now, a 360 Spotlight Story called Pearl is in the running for an Oscar after being nominated in the Animated Short Film category.
It’s a little over two years since Motorola launched Spotlight Player, an app that could be used to view a 360-degree interactive animation. Initially limited to the Moto X before being rolled out to other Android devices, you move your smartphone up, down, left and right to choose which part of the scene to view – and can also view through Google Cardboard.
Google held onto the team when it sold Motorola to Lenovo, and it has now launched Special Delivery, a holiday-themed Spotlight Story from Aardman Animations, the creators of Wallace & Gromit. While you have to pay for some stories, this one is free as a holiday gift from Google …