Designing feasible prototypes for Google’s new interaction sensor using radar technology

In 2015 Google Advanced Technology and Projects, led by Ivan Poupyrev, developed a new sensing technology: Project Soli.

Soli is a miniature radar that understands human motions at various scales: from your heartbeat to the movements of your body. It fits onto a chip, can be produced at scale and built into small devices and everyday objects.

From the initial stages, we were involved and collaborated for more than two years on numerous iterations of the developing sensor.

We developed practical use cases and operational prototypes utilizing the chip. Utilizing machine learning and AI, we trained Soli to recognize a series of gestures we designed. The prototypes we created served as proof of concept for various product ideas and innovations. At a later stage, we handled the full software development. We created the documentation of the Soli Dev Kit including demos and gesture kit explications.

Our proficiency in data visualization aided us in analyzing, visualizing, and comprehending the functionality of Soli, as well as in interpreting its abundant data for subsequent prototypes. Equipped with this understanding, we conceptualized and fabricated multiple prototypes tailored to different use cases, aligning with the various developmental stages of the technology.

Further, we designed and developed a mini-game based on Soli: You control a paper plain with direct gestures of your hand, no controller needed.

Our team developed many more prototypes and visualizations. Finally, it shifted our focus to the Soli developer kit for which we created tutorials and documentation, accompanied by detailed illustrations and manuals.

These helped Google steer the innovation and build user interactions and experiences that just made sense, creating value from the remarkable invention of a tiny radar. Google integrated Soli in their mobile phone, the Google Pixel Four.