Federal regulators in the U.S. have granted Google permission to operate its radar-based hand motion sensor, Soli, at higher power levels than currently allowed by the FCC. Soli has a wide range of applications, but one of the more obvious and immediate use cases will be in esports.
Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects unit began working on Soli in 2015. The sensor fits into a small chip the size of a quarter and detects three-dimensional motion through radar. The accompanying software platform analyzes the raw data and can identify common gestures such as pressing a button, turning a key, or spinning a dial.