Google is talking about two of the main features that the Pixel 4 will bring today. The company has confirmed that the upcoming flagship features a motion-sensing radar which powers a feature called Motion Sense. As expected, the Pixel 4 is also going to come with Face Unlock, but it will be a more advanced version compared to the functionality offered by a lot of Android smartphones today.
Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects team has been working on Project Soli for the past five years. It’s a miniature version of motion-sensing radar. This will be located at the top of the Pixel 4 to sense small motions around the phone.
This radar will enable Motion Sense features on the device, allowing users to skip songs, snooze alarms, silence phone calls, and more by simply making gestures around the phone. These capabilities will improve over time. Google does point out that Motion Sense will be available in “select Pixel countries.”
Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 isn’t just going to use the selfie camera like it does on other Android smartphones. As users reach for their device, Soli will proactively enable the face unlock sensors and if they recognize the user, it will instantly be unlocked. Google says that this will work in almost any orientation, even if the phone is being held upside down.
With regards to privacy, Google says that the facial recognition is processed on the device itself and the image data is never uploaded anywhere. The images that are used for face unlock are never saved or shared with other Google services. It will talk more about these features at its hardware event which is expected to take place this October.