Remember Project Soli, the Google ATAP tech that uses electromagnetic waves to track your hand gestures to let you control a device without touching it? Well, it turns out that Soli could be included in the next Pixel phone.
The Pixel 4 could reportedly include a Soli radar chip. That's according to a report from 9to5Google, and then a follow-up by XDA-Developers says that Google is working on gestures in Android Q that could use Soli. The code in Android Q suggests that they require a new "Aware" sensor that isn't on any existing Pixel device.
This "Aware" sensor will reportedly enable two new gestures called "Skip" and "Silence". That suggests that they'll be using for controlling the playback of music and other audio.
Using Project Soli to let you control music playback on your phone could be a pretty nifty trick for the Pixel 4. And while the functionality may sound limited right now, these Skip and Silence features could be an initial way of showing the public what Soli is capable of, and from there Google could improve it and add more features.
The Pixel 4 is likely going to make its official debut in early October, so we'll likely hear more about this "Awake" feature and other details of Google's upcoming flagships in the coming months.
