Google gets US approval for radar based motion sensor

Search engine giant Google is spreading its hands more in to the hardware segment. The motion sensor is the next that Google is working on. Google was granted an approval from the Federal Communications Commission to deploy radar based motion sensors which are also known as Project Soli. Reports say that the sensors allow the users to operate electronic devices with the help of hand gestures.

The approval by the FCC has allowed the search giant to operate the sensors at a higher power level than that is currently allowed. The sensors will also be allowed abroad an aircraft. Julius Knapp, the Chief of Engineering and Technology at FCC wrote in an order, “Grant of the waiver will serve the public interest by providing for innovative device control features using touchless hand gesture technology”.

The order said that in the month of March, the search engine had asked the FCC to grant its waiver. The motion sensor can capture motion in three dimensional space with the help of a radar beam that enables touchless control of the devices. Google had revealed the Project Soli in 2016 with the help of a video which showed that the users can control the smartwatches and speakers by just moving your hand far or close to the devices and touching your thumb with the index finger.

Google and FCC were not immediately available for a comment. In September Google and Facebook had jointly told the FCC that they agreed that the censors would operate at a higher than the currently allowed power levels without interference but at lower levels than the previously that was proposed by the search engine. The company told FCC that without the higher power levels that field testing showed blind spots that could occur close to the sensor location. In September Facebook told the FCC that it expected a variety of uses to develop with respect to the new radar devices.

Photo Credits: Deccan chronicle