New Pixel 4 Screen Leaks Indicate Possibility of Touchless Gestures
Updated: Aug 19, 2021
Google has gotten so fed up with the leaks and rumours of their upcoming Pixel phone, that they even took to Twitter to post a photo of the rear of the Pixel 4 in order to try and avoid more leaks. From those, we’ve been able to see that the Pixel 4 will have two rear cameras with a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor and an LED flash.
Of course, that never works and now apparently the front of the phone has been leaked too.
Credit: iGeeksBlog x OnLeaks
iGeeksBlog and OnLeaks have partnered to produce leaked renders of the upcoming phone, as shown above. The renders are in line with leaked specs from other sources, showing off a large forehead with a slight chin for the front display.
But what’s really interesting is the cutout layout for the top, with an interesting pill shaped one at the right side that’s not for the camera or light sensor. It’s rumoured to be for Soli radar sensors, which could mean that the long awaited touchless gesture technology could be implemented in the new phone.
With Soli, you could tap your thumb and index finger together to mimic a button press, or slide your thumb along your index finger like a slider and the radar sensor will be able to detect how your fingers are moving and translate that into an action to control your phone. There are dozens of ways this could be implemented in phone controls, and could render physical touches on the screen completely unnecessary in the future.
Of course, this is still speculation, but it would be insanely cool if Google did have the technology at a stage where it could be implemented in the Pixel 4. Guess we’ll just have to wait till October to find out for sure.