Soli
atap.google.com
Soli
1–10 of 325 posts
Re: Soli
#2I wonder if that's proximity sensors or always-on gesture recognition doing image processing off the front camera.
Either way, gesturing left/right/up/down doesn't seem to add more than touching the device. My Moto G6 has that now, using the fingerprint sensor as a directional swipe button, love it.
Re: Soli
#3Just touch the screen. It's already on your hands!
Re: Soli
#4I wonder if that's proximity sensors or always-on gesture recognition doing image processing off the front camera. Either way, gesturing left/right/up/down doesn't seem to add more than touching the device. My Moto G6 has that now, using the fingerprint sensor as a directional swipe button, love it.
they specifically point out on the page that it's not a camera, doesn't capture any visual images, even works through some solid materials, and can sense in all directions around the device.
This looks literally perfect for something like a smart display. I have a google home smart display on my desk, and I like to keep it back far enough that it's a bit of a reach to touch the screen and interact with it. If i could just wave in front of it, that would improve things significantly! But add in the other benefits of something like this (just being able to sense where a person is around a device like a smart speaker or display seems like it could be extremely useful for better sound projection and better microphone listening), and it seems like it really could be a game changer.
I am wondering why they decided to first release it in a phone, where it seems like it has the least benefits...
Re: Soli
#5I wonder if that's proximity sensors or always-on gesture recognition doing image processing off the front camera. Either way, gesturing left/right/up/down doesn't seem to add more than touching the device. My Moto G6 has that now, using the fingerprint sensor as a directional swipe button, love it.
'Soli' is one of Google's research projects. It's a radar-on-a-chip, and has nothing to do with the phone's cameras.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_ATAP#Project_Soli
It'll be interesting to see how this works once it's in the hands of consumers; the videos they were showing a few years ago looked pretty cool, but it seems like these sorts of novel user interfaces need to hit a difficult trifecta of being intuitive, reliable, and responsive.
Re: Soli
#6> Private
> Soli is not a camera and doesn’t capture any visual images.
This is a privacy misconception that really needs to die (something also discussed in the W3C ambient light sensor thread recently on HN frontpage). Sensing involves privacy implications. By. Definition.
Re: Soli
#7The "dial" gesture is incredibly subtle. Kudos to them if it works reliably.
MKBHD doesn't seem convinced in the efficacy of the sensor* from his Pixel 4 video: https://youtu.be/sKJ4i7p-o-4?t=326
* from Analemma_'s comment below, the Pixel 4 doesn't seem to be running the full blown chip
Re: Soli
#8> Private > Soli is not a camera and doesn’t capture any visual images. This is a privacy misconception that really needs to die (something also discussed in the W3C ambient light sensor thread recently on HN frontpage). Sensing involves privacy implications. By. Definition.
Especially as the privacy statement you quoted is immediately followed by a diagram showing how Soli can tell if you're paying attention to your phone or not, and how many people are near-by.
Re: Soli
#9Gonna require "the cloud" so they can collect free machine learning model training data and spy on us, I assume?
Re: Soli
#10I wonder if that's proximity sensors or always-on gesture recognition doing image processing off the front camera. Either way, gesturing left/right/up/down doesn't seem to add more than touching the device. My Moto G6 has that now, using the fingerprint sensor as a directional swipe button, love it.
they specifically point out on the page that it's not a camera, doesn't capture any visual images, even works through some solid materials, and can sense in all directions around the device. This looks literally perfect for something like a smart display. I have a google home smart display on my desk, and I like to keep it back far enough that it's a bit of a reach to touch the screen and interact with it. If i could…
> I am wondering why they decided to first release it in a phone, where it seems like it has the least benefits...
Google wanting something in your phone that allows it to track engagement? I can't think why.. :)
> Engaged > Soli anticipates when you want to interact.