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.
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.
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...
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.
Their priorities are spying-first, typically, so this is unsurprising.
Their goal is ubiquitous access. To get to that goal, they're collecting a lot of data about the world and their users to figure out where, when, how, and why users want data to optimize getting it to them. And yes, it probably serves their ad model too, but there's more to it than that; Google is helmed by a futurist and employs futurists, and is looking towards a not-too-distant future of always-on personal networks enhancing what a person can do in their day-to-day.
If they introduce anything new, the first question is, how that will make money for them. If it is collecting data, the question is, how they can use that data to earn more money.
Also as it has been mentioned by someone in the comments, I'm really not keen being surrounded by another set of devices that can "see" me CCTV is more than enough already. I also I don't want to invite google to my home to map it out.
Probably Pixel4 owners are going to be asked to turn off their phone and put it into a box next to the door when they want to come into my flat.
The fact that the corporation is still basically privately owned though publicly traded (in the sense that the founders retain a controlling stock percentage) means that they can use the money as a means to whatever ends the founders wind up the company and point it at. They know the game is over if they run out of money, but that doesn't mean the game they're playing is "Build maximum monetary value for shareholders" any more than the game you or I are playing daily is "What will I have for dinner." They have enough controlling interest to vote that that's not what the company's primary goal is, in practice.
Now, why would anyone who isn't them play that game by buying GOOG/L stock? Because in spite of the company's goal not being "maximize revenue," it's very good at generating both revenue and product people care about, and the people trading its stock are excited about that. They get a piece of the action, even if they don't actually call the shots.
Sell it standalone, and people have to really want to play with it.
Sell it in an already-portable form-factor that is also a phone, and the activation energy to try it is lower; if it doesn't work, at least you have a working top-model phone.