A new beta feature for Android 12 is turning heads with its indicators of where new interface design may be going in the future.
Saqib Shah at Engadget reports on a feature called Camera Switches, as part of the Android Access Suite, that is innovating gesture control. It’s in the form of an API which ties several facial expressions to about a dozen device controls – for example, allowing the program to initiate notifications based on a user’s smile.
“Camera Switches builds upon (a)… feature … which lets you interact with your device without using the touchscreen,” Shah writes. “Depending on the context, this can be done using an external device, such as a keyboard, via a USB or Bluetooth connection, or by pressing the built-in buttons on your phone. In that sense, Camera Switches takes the feature up a notch by introducing gestures to the mix. Seeing as most people are already accustomed to unlocking their phones with their face, the new additions shouldn’t seem completely foreign.”
In the general scheme of things, this new design jibes with prior reports in years past that future interfaces would focus on using the body as a means of controlling electronic devices. We also had a early examples in wearables like Google Glass, and parallel advances in verbal commands for auto infotainment systems and more.
However, the field of gesture-based controls is a slightly different animal than what’s become common with Alexa and Siri.
“Gesture recognition can be seen as a way for computers to begin to understand human body language,” write experts at the University of Birmingham in England. “Compared to the primitive user interfaces, such as keyboard and mouse, it builds a richer bridge between the computers and humans. Gesture control devices recognize and interpret human body movements, allowing the user to interact with a computer system.”
Look for more of this technology to hit shelves soon.
