Google on Monday confirmed that its forthcoming handset, the Pixel 4, will support gestures and facial recognition for unlocking. A post on its blog advises it will be used in areas such as snoozing alarms, skipping songs, and dismissing calls.
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The last five years has seen a division within Google working to bring motion-sensing radar technology to devices. Dubbed ‘Soli’, it’s the brains behind a number of new and interesting features.
For the new phone, Google has found a way to include a tiny version of it at the top. It will be used to sense small motions around the phone and work in conjunction with software algorithms to recognize nearby gestures.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnRbXWojW7c?feature=oembed&w=640&h=360]
Likewise, Soli is used in a new face unlock capability for the next-gen device. Whereas most phone require holding them in a certain way or being lifted all the way up, the Pixel 4’s face unlocking is smarter, if not more forgiving.
The new phone will automatically start to enable the face unlock feature as soon as it’s picked up. It will work in both portrait and landscape mode and even upside down.
The “Motion Sense” tech is expected to get better over time and as such, so will the Pixel 4 experience.