Google Pixel 4

Google

Pixel 4

Introducing Motion Sense

Introducing Motion Sense

Our team introduced the Soli chip, platform and interaction model to the Pixel 4 phone. The Soli sensor is located at the top of the phone, creating an interactive hemisphere that can sense and understand movements around the phone.
I recruited, mentored, and managed a team of designers and researchers. We defined and shipped the Soli interaction paradigm, movement library, design language, and the Motion Sense experiences that shipped on Pixel 4.

Soli enables an understanding of spatial relations, body attitudes, and gesticulation. Initial Motion Sense features (powered by Soli) allow you to skip songs, snooze alarms, and silence phone calls, just by waving your hand. As you reach for Pixel 4, Soli proactively turns on the face unlock sensors, recognizing that you may want to unlock your phone. If face unlock is successful, the phone will open as you pick it up, all in one motion.

ROLE : Design lead

FOR : Motion Sense on Google Pixel 4

DATE : Apr 2018 – Mar 2020

Snooze and silence

Snooze alarms and silence phone calls, just by waving your hand above the screen

Control your music

Pause or skip music by tapping or swiping your hand above the screen

Face unlock, made better

As you reach for Pixel 4, Soli proactively turns on the face unlock sensors, recognizing that you may want to unlock your phone. The phone will open as you pick it up, all in one motion.

Interaction framework

Soli aims to understand the nuances of human movements so that we can use our natural body language and gestures as a form of input. We created an interaction framework that groups human movements according to levels of proximity and engagement between the user and Soli: aware, engaged and active.
The framework is based on human nonverbal communication models.
interactions-aware

1

Aware

Soli is aware of your presence

interactions-engaged

2

Engaged

Soli anticipates when you want to interact

interactions-active

3

Active

Soli actively recognizes and responds to your gestures.

Movement library

The Soli movement library consists of units of interaction which can be used to build complex interactive experiences that go beyond touch and voice.
Our team defined the following movements for launch on Pixel 4. 
Presence
Reach
Swipe
Tap

Design system

We designed and built a feedback system for Motion Sense that provides at-a-glance information at the top of the screen. It works in harmony with the Google Assistant, and the new Gesture navigation system on Pixel 4.
The glow system is used to express device states and confirmations that gestures have been recognized properly.
FeedbackStates

Voice interactions with Google Assistant

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Reviews

"The Pixel 4 provides a more cohesive, complete experience than other Android phones. It takes away lots of little points of friction through clever uses of its new sensors like face unlock and Motion Sense.
It’s the interplay of the new features on the Pixel 4 that make the whole thing feel more seamless and natural. It’s something you can’t learn from a spec sheet or a leak: the Pixel 4 is more of a joy to use than any other Android phone."
– The Verge

"Google’s drive to make interacting with gadgets feel more natural and intuitive is something you can see across its entire portfolio of gadgets, from smart speakers that support conversational speech recognition to a map app that can warn you about traffic jams before you even get in your car. But on the Pixel 4, Google has taken that directive to a whole new level. 
The best example of this is the Pixel 4's Motion sense."
– Gizmodo