Xiaomi wants to revive an old feature of the Google Pixel 4

Xiaomi will be working on a tablet project that will take on the idea of ​​motion recognition and some gestures on its own. A concept that Google had put a lot of hope into about four years ago.

Propose a technology that allows bypassing a single touch interaction with the screen. Google experimented with this somewhat successfully with its “Soli” motion recognition technology that was deployed on the Pixel 4 in 2019 and later abandoned because it was considered too expensive. This week we learned that Xiaomi can nonetheless carry the torch.

Android Police Reports that the Chinese brand will work on a device with a ToF sensor (flight time) is able to provide hands-free gesture control. The device in question, possibly integrated into a tablet, would allow users to control media playback, without touching the screen, but also to adjust the volume, to switch from one song to another, or to turn the pages of an e-book or PDF. Motion recognition can finally be used to answer or end a call.

Motion recognition, but not only

However, the ToF sensor of the future Xiaomi device will not be dedicated only to these functions. We learn that the brand will take advantage of this technology to enhance the security of its devices by automatically locking them when a user steps away from them, for example. We also read the automatic ignition of the screen when approaching it.

Also, one of the upcoming #xiaomi The devices will feature a ToF camera on the screen (likely the tablet), allowing for
* Automatically lock the screen when you walk a certain distance
* Screen light when you approach the device
* Play/pause playback
* Turning pages
* Answer/end calls
* Adjust the volume pic.twitter.com/0UNiWzlZjk

– Kacper Skrzypek 🇵🇱 (@kacskrz) July 1, 2023

Note, however, that there is a huge technical difference that separates the Xiaomi project from the Soli technology that Google used a few years ago. The latter used a radar system to operate, while Xiaomi would be content with a ToF … and therefore an optical one. If it checks out, we can imagine it will be less accurate than Sully was in his day. It is also difficult to know whether Xiaomi will manage to implement it intelligently at the software level, and whether the aforementioned features will be really useful or eye-catching.

Until now, this kind of hands-free control, whether on a smartphone with the Pixel 4, or even on consoles with the Microsoft Kinect system (on the Xbox 360s and the first Xbox Ones) was not really able to attract users. crowds compared to conventional controls.

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