When we watch sci-fi movies like the Iron Man, Minority report etc. , what strikes us a lot is the "Gesture-Control " interfaces showcased in these films.The way the characters control the interface attracts us a lot.
Many attempts were made in this field like the software "Flutter", the Nintendo Wii Motion Plus etc. Even Intel showcased their "Real-Sense" Technology in the CES-15 which is based on gesture controlling.Now, it's google who has set it's foot in this field with their Project "SOLI".
In the Google I/O 2015, the Advanced Technology and Projects(ATAP) Division of google putforth their Project Soli.It is headed by Dr.Ivan Poupyrev. Soli is simply a radar which looks like a chip.It is capable of recording subtle finger movements and interpret them to interact with connected devices like a watch for example.The beauty of this system is that it uses invisible radar emanating from a chip that can be embedded into anything.Inspired by the advances in communications of the next generation Wi-Fi called the "Wi-Gig", this team shrank the components of the radar down to millimeters.Their biggest challenge was to shrank a shoe-box sized radar into something tiny to fit into a chip and they've succeded in doing so in just 10 months.
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This chip uses radio waves(60Hz) that are capable of capturing upto 10,000 images per second, thus acting like a radar capable of interpreting subtle hand movements like finger snaps into actions.They are now working on integrating this into all sorts of technology like in automobiles, wearables like watches etc. They can be handled from a distance without a need for physical interaction. Here ,our body becomes the primary command interface for all interactive devices.
It can be used for many such basic applications for a volume slider, a button, virtual tools etc.
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The beauty if this chip is that it can be used anywhere like furniture, cars, electronics etc and there's no camera tracking.It can be implemented in Virtual Reality applications like gaming. Infact ,it would be perfect for VR because the user's field of vision is limited and something like SOLI can replace a physical device. Soli can capture hand movements from as far as a meter.The developers team seems to have been inspired from the interfaces shown in the film "Minority Report" as they have related their project to the interface showcased in that movie.
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Later this year, the project's open source technology will be handed over to the developers to create further applications.Let's wait and see to what levels the developers will escalate this project in the further applications.
Below is a brief video about the Project "SOLI"
