Pixel 4 Might Support ‘Soli’ Touchless Gestures

by Ryan Whitwam

Google has shown off some wildly futuristic technologies at its annual I/O gathering, but most of them have faded into obscurity without ever appearing in a consumer product. The Project Soli gesture control system has been pie-in-the-sky since its debut in 2015, but a report several months back confirmed Google was still working on the tech. Now, a new leak suggests it might become an integral part of the next Pixel phone, PCMag reports.

Soli originated with the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, which Google kept when it sold off the rest of Motorola to Lenovo a couple of years back. ATAP is responsible for interesting but ultimately useless technologies like Jacquard touch fabric, Ara modular phones, and Tango 3D computer vision. Google tried to launch all three products, but they failed either in development or shortly after launch.

Soli uses a small radar chip to detect hand movements with much greater accuracy than existing systems based on cameras and motion sensors. In the original I/O demos, Google showed how Soli could enable buttons taps, scrolling, and volume controls without touching the phone. For example, imagine turning a virtual knob to change the volume on your phone or tapping your thumb and forefinger to tap the screen.