Google's Upcoming Pixel 4 Smartphone Features Face Unlock and Gesture Recognition

[Heineken]

It cracks me up how many FaceID haters are still trolling the comments. Meanwhile Google takes two years and who knows how many millions of bucks copying it, minus the “swipe up”.

Apple made a design decision to require swipe up, it's not like it's not possible to ad this option to go straight to home screen.

 

[realtuner]

Why put blind trust in BS statistics? Just search YouTube for "face id fail" which has tons of hits vs "touch id fail" which has virtually none.

Still posting these BS videos I see.

You know why they’re all “edited”? Because they have the second person look at the iPhone and then enter the PIN when it unlocks. FaceID thinks it’s the same person and also “learns” the features of the second person and merges them. This is an easy trick to do to produce these videos.

This is why, in the numerous previous times I’ve explained this to you, I asked you to find a complete un-edited video showing a person registering their face, using the phone numerous times to finalize the learning process (which continues past the initial enrollment) and THEN handing it to another person and having them unlock with their face.

I see I’m going to be waiting a long time.

 

[coolfactor]

So it unlocks while not looking at the camera?

EXACTLY! Face ID has attention awareness. Does Face Unlock?

 

[Analog Kid]

No. It’s a short range sensor. And Google already had to apply to the FCC to increase the power level to make it work as-is (meaning close to the device). To read a face at a normal distance would require exponentially more power, so this won’t be coming.

Besides, Soli is a gimmick. I can see potential uses for people who have a disability, but for the majority of the population it won’t offer much of value.

I think Google is looking for something to use their new sensor for when they could have accomplished the same thing using a camera. My BMW has gesture control like this (I never use it as a button is just as easy) and it’s done with a camera. Much better range than Soli has and it doesn’t emit any high-frequency radiation.

And my understanding is that Soli detects motion, not static shape.

I personally agree that Soli is a gimmick, or at least the features I've heard described are-- change songs by performing a gesture very, very close to your phone without touching it? Not sure what that buys us...

 

[code-m]

I almost never have to input my password using Face ID and font have to touch the phone to see my notifications. Big improvement over Touch ID. However having said that Apple raised the bar with Face ID two years ago....two year lead. Now two years later google is improving on the concept...bravo.

I guess Ming was spot on this one that Android will take 2 years to get proper FaceID equivalent. Still not sure why the 2018 FaceID on iPhone could not do what iPad Pro 2018 FaceID does to open in any orientation.

 

[NickName99]

Or... its scanning your face and trying to recognize a match ahead of time, so its already unlocked when you actually want to use it. Unlike Face ID.

FaceID already does that. It unlocks as soon as it recognizes you, whether or not you swipe up to get past the lock screen. You may just want to view your notifications, take a photo or use the flashlight, all which are on the lock screen.

 

[code-m]

And my understanding is that Soli detects motion, not static shape.

I personally agree that Soli is a gimmick, or at least the features I've heard described are-- change songs by performing a gesture very, very close to your phone without touching it? Not sure what that buys us...

The constant pressing on touch screens aches my finger(s), I can see this useful for people who suffer from arthritis.

 

[jona2125]

Almost 2 years later ...

what many don’t know is Apple contracts the suppliers with ass loads of money to ensure sole proprietary of the tech for about a year or so and then by the time development can start and be completed by competitors it’s about 2 years later from Apples initial launch. While working for Apple it’s pretty shameful how absolutely greedy they are to acquire exclusivity or prevent certain things from happening before they implement them. It’s been getting better but not much.

 

[Heineken]

I almost never have to input my password using Face ID and font have to touch the phone to see my notifications. Big improvement over Touch ID. However having said that Apple raised the bar with Face ID two years ago....two year lead. Now two years later google is improving on the concept...bravo.

We don't know what specific Face ID related features are in iOS 13 on new iPhones.

 

[code-m]

FaceID already does that. It unlocks as soon as it recognizes you, whether or not you swipe up to get past the lock screen. You may just want to view your notifications, take a photo or use the flashlight, all which are on the lock screen.

I wonder if Google has a gesture for the camera, notifications and flashlight, would be most impressive.

 

[realtuner]

Or... its scanning your face and trying to recognize a match ahead of time, so its already unlocked when you actually want to use it. Unlike Face ID.

How can it scan your face when you’re not looking at the phone? It’s using a dot projector like the iPhone, so it can’t magically scan at odd angles or distances.

FaceID unlocks when I want to use it. 99.9% of the time. Your last sentence “unlike FaceID” is a straight up lie.

 

[coolfactor]

Yes, many comments on here about how Apple is better because they wait until they get it right before releasing something, but FaceID isn't it. It is nowhere near as fluid as TouchID, nor is it as fast. I have to manually type my passcode in far more on FaceID than I ever had to on TouchID.

And before people talk about it being so much more secure, show me where and who has cracked the TouchID protection, and why it is all of a sudden so inferior?

Very subjective. I find Face ID far more fluid in terms of overall user experience. The swipe-up (for me) is a non-issue. Face ID automatically unlocking passwords in Safari is genius! This would have require that I place my correct finger or thumb in the correct position, every time I needed to unlock a password.

And we all know that Face ID and Touch ID are both very secure. Touch ID has a slight edge, but not much.

 

[Analog Kid]

The constant pressing on touch screens aches my finger(s), I can see this useful for people who suffer from arthritis.

Yeah, I also agree with @realtuner's caveat that it can aid in accessibility.

 

[NickName99]

Apple made a design decision to require swipe up, it's not like it's not possible to ad this option to go straight to home screen.

It’s a good design decision. Usually when I take out my phone it’s to take a photo or check my notifications, neither which require getting past the lock screen. My iPhone X unlocks when it recognizes me, but I don’t want it going past the lock screen unless I swipe up. If that’s what I want, I swipe up with my thumb as I’m raising the phone to use it, it takes zero extra time.

 

[TheSapient]

Apple said that the chances of a random finger unlocking your phone is 1 in 50,000. Going off of that number alone, Face ID is 20x more secure than Touch ID. Nobody even tried to imply it is unbeatable. It's all about chances of that ever happening.

I think this is actually an interesting question, because we don't live just around random people. People around us are more likely to be related to us than someone chosen at random. Your twin is far more likely to be in your house than any given random person. Then again, you may be less worried about your family accessing your phone than a stranger. A stranger who is trying to get into your phone is far more likely to have ill intent.

So, for a real person, is 3D facial recognition really more secure than an fingerprint sensor? I don't know. For me, I don't really even care than much 2D facial recognition is good enough for unlocking my phone. I'm simply not worried that someone out there will try to use a photo of me to get into my phone.
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It’s a good design decision. Usually when I take out my phone it’s to take a photo or check my notifications, neither which require getting past the lock screen. My iPhone X unlocks when it recognizes me, but I don’t want it going past the lock screen unless I swipe up.

Better to have an option, IMO. Different people have different workflows.

 

[macfacts]

You mean the face recognition which will unlock with a photograph of the person?

Yes that face recognition. Slim chance someone that finds my lost phone would have a picture of me. Anyways, there is an option to require a eye wink, a picture can't wink.

So is apple going to copy google and allow faceid to work sideways?

 

[toph2toast]

How can it scan your face when you’re not looking at the phone? It’s using a dot projector like the iPhone, so it can’t magically scan at odd angles or distances.

FaceID unlocks when I want to use it. 99.9% of the time. Your last sentence “unlike FaceID” is a straight up lie.

If it does a complete map of your face when you set it up, then yes, it can scan at odd angles. I'm not sure why you think its that difficult. If the setup involves me looking up and now knows my face in that angle, then it can unlock without me looking at it. And this may be odd, but just because Face ID works well for you doesn't mean it works well for other people. Heck, its one of the main reasons why I ditched my iPhone X for a Galaxy s10+.
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FaceID already does that. It unlocks as soon as it recognizes you, whether or not you swipe up to get past the lock screen. You may just want to view your notifications, take a photo or use the flashlight, all which are on the lock screen.

Yea and you have to be at a pretty specific angle for it to do that. I'd take Touch ID over Face ID any day of the week.

 

[_Refurbished_]

I’ll take convenience over security. Security is important for some, not for all. The quicker I can get into my phone the better.

 

[GuruZac]

iPad Pro 2018 does it.

The iPhone doesn't, however, which is what I was referring to.

 

[mrkite77]

I never have to type in my password... my
FACE ID never fails

If that were true, it's more likely that you just don't have any security turned on.

 

[code-m]

The iPhone doesn't, however, which is what I was referring to.

I believe you may have mis-read, I am saying that yes any orientation is possible as proven on iPad Pro 2018 version. So why did Apple not include it on 2018 iPhone models. Apple has the benefit where these things are worked closely together, I find it hard to believe that there is one FaceID team for iPhone and another for iPad at AppleHQ. Am I to believe that within a factor of two months Apple Engineers figured out how to incorporate any orientation FaceID. The likely situation is that Apple omitted it and will then magically it will be a feature for iPhone 2019 models.

 

[lazyrighteye]

The gesture thing is always where I felt Ive was headed. Never touching the device seemed his goal.
It will be interesting to see how this works in real-world usage. I can definitely see some scenarios where that would be a nice feature/capability/option.

Kind of related... SmartScroll™ is something I have personally been interested to see come to fruition. In my mind, the front-facing cameras would be able to track eye movement and - in the instance - be able to auto-scroll an article the user was reading. Done well, could be handy. #MaybeSoMaybeNot

 

[code-m]

The gesture thing is always where I felt Ive was headed. Never touching the device seemed his goal.
It will be interesting to see how this works in real-world usage. I can definitely see some scenarios where that would be a nice feature/capability/option.

Kind of related... SmartScroll™ is something I have personally been interested to see come to fruition. In my mind, the front-facing cameras would be able to track eye movement and - in the instance - be able to auto-scroll an article the user was reading. Done well, could be handy. #MaybeSoMaybeNot

Health care industry, accessibility would benefit immensely. Apple is focusing more in this area.

 

[TheSapient]

The gesture thing is always where I felt Ive was headed. Never touching the device seemed his goal.
It will be interesting to see how this works in real-world usage. I can definitely see some scenarios where that would be a nice feature/capability/option.

Kind of related... SmartScroll™ is something I have personally been interested to see come to fruition. In my mind, the front-facing cameras would be able to track eye movement and - in the instance - be able to auto-scroll an article the user was reading. Done well, could be handy. #MaybeSoMaybeNot

The obvious problem with gesture based phone navigation is the difficulty in one hand use.

 

[jamezr]

What is it people usually say... Now I remember, not the first but they did it right...

"Other phones require you to lift the device all the way up, pose in a certain way, wait for it to unlock, and then swipe to get to the homescreen," read's Google's blog post on the feature. "Pixel 4 does all of that in a much more streamlined way."

yep...maybe 2 years later...but if it works as described then Google is implementing it better.