Georgian university team wins Google tech contest

A team of young Georgian inventors will receive backing from Google to create new software for the technology giant’s new tablet device after winning a worldwide contest.

The start-up project named Wally, by a team comprising of Georgian university students, will be financed by Google to create an application for the upcoming device equipped to make use of the physical world in ways not seen before.

The application will be created by a group of teachers and students from Free University of Georgia. They are tasked to enable the new tablet to "post virtual content in physical space" and share it via social networks.

Imagine virtual slogans saying "Let's write in Georgian" or "Knowledge, Work, Freedom" on real building walls," said the inventors while explaining the idea behind their project.

The creators said uses for the product could include "hanging" digital photographs on apartment walls, "painting" city streets with virtual graffiti text and providing mobile guides to museum spaces.

Wally developers said they also anticipated the application would evolve to work with progressively smaller gadgets like glasses and even contact lenses in the near future.

The team will work in the framework of Google's Project Tango, which aims to transform mobile devices by enabling them to perceive the physical world, navigate obstacles and "learn" areas they have not seen before.

Google announced the contest several months ago, calling for ideas for hardware functionality.

The Georgian team submitted its ideas alongside start-ups from around the world.