THE FUTURE OF THE USER INTERFACE
One of the biggest challenges for designers over the last decade has been incorporating a usable UI (digital or physical) onto products that continue to shrink in scale. The continued and rapid optimization of electronic components has created new market segments (smart devices for example) and have allowed for products that are generations old to drastically reduce in scale. These new product architectures have allowed for a more portable, connected product experience, but often times this has come at the expense of overall usability. Everyone has had that maddening experience of trying to input data into a phone, smart-watch, etc. only to mash two or three extra keys because the UI is completely out of proportion to the human hand. Well, it looks like Google is coming to the rescue of designers and consumers with Project Soli.
Project Soli is one of those rare technological leaps that has the potential to truly change how people interface with the world. At its core, Soli utilizes radar technology to map the minute and sophisticated movements of the human hand. Google has shown in demos how this technology could be utilized to control products through a digital UI system. For example, no longer would consumers need to physically touch a Bluetooth speaker to turn up the volume; they could just slide two of their fingers together, simulating the interaction with a traditional, physical slide control.
Soli is revolutionary not only because it potentially eliminates the issue of UIs and product scale, but it assists in solving the age-old problem of designing a product’s UI to be ergonomically correct for the 10% female and the 99% male. By utilizing Soli, a product’s UI would in a sense be customized to each unique user as the physical interface is nothing more than a consumer’s own hands.
The opportunities Soli presents to designers and consumers are amazing to say the least. Imagine being able to turn on your shower and adjusting the water temperature without physically interacting with the valves (or a control scheme on your smart device). Think of the sanitary benefits of being able to preheat your oven without touching the control panel with your hands that were moments before prepping raw chicken. Beyond consumer applications, the improvements and benefits for sterile medical products are seemingly endless. It will be exciting to see the next phases in Soli’s development, but I think it is safe to say that a paradigm shift in UI design is upon us.
Project Soli is one of those rare technological leaps that has the potential to truly change how people interface with the world. At its core, Soli utilizes radar technology to map the minute and sophisticated movements of the human hand. Google has shown in demos how this technology could be utilized to control products through a digital UI system. For example, no longer would consumers need to physically touch a Bluetooth speaker to turn up the volume; they could just slide two of their fingers together, simulating the interaction with a traditional, physical slide control.
Soli is revolutionary not only because it potentially eliminates the issue of UIs and product scale, but it assists in solving the age-old problem of designing a product’s UI to be ergonomically correct for the 10% female and the 99% male. By utilizing Soli, a product’s UI would in a sense be customized to each unique user as the physical interface is nothing more than a consumer’s own hands.
The opportunities Soli presents to designers and consumers are amazing to say the least. Imagine being able to turn on your shower and adjusting the water temperature without physically interacting with the valves (or a control scheme on your smart device). Think of the sanitary benefits of being able to preheat your oven without touching the control panel with your hands that were moments before prepping raw chicken. Beyond consumer applications, the improvements and benefits for sterile medical products are seemingly endless. It will be exciting to see the next phases in Soli’s development, but I think it is safe to say that a paradigm shift in UI design is upon us.
Photo & Video Credit: Google