Why on earth did Google choose the name Jacquard... that's already heavily used in the textile industry as one of the main programs for designing knitting patterns on Stoll/SIRIX & M1 systems. I get the reference re weaving, but the name overuse is dumb.
Punched cards based on the ones used in Jacquard looms were used by a company called Tabulating Machine Corporation in the USA for tabulating machines. This company later became IBM, and the punched cards became the one of the earliest mechanisms for input into computers. So perhaps it is appropriate to give the name Jacquard as the wheel turns full circle, and we have computing merging with textiles to provide a new way to input data into computers.
"the addition of Force Touch and the digital crown in addition to the touchscreen really resolves most of the problems that come with small display of smart watches. "
That's one truly dumb thing to say, to consider the digital crown as a viable option is beyond outrageous. Wow!
60GHz has a wavelength of 5mm. To get any kind of directional antenna you generally need several wavelengths of antenna. I'd love to take that chip into my test chamber and see what the tx and rx radiation patterns look like. The demo didn't look to me like it was actually tracking fingers, but had a lot of assumptions about different movements.
Soli looks really cool and I wan't wait to learn more about it.
60 GHz radiowaves = 5mm wavelength wide cone of transmitted waves possible 180 degrees of interaction range from 5 cm to 5 m (I very highly doubt 5 m for "wearables" btw)
This sounds almost identical to Elliptic Labs tech based on ultrasound waves:
40Kh ultrasound = 8mm wavelength same wide cone transmitted signal and full 180 degrees of interactive space Range from few centimeters to 2-3 meters (fully confirmed by their demos)
The difference: power consumption for ultrasonic-based technology is orders of magnitude less than for microwaves or light for that matter. That includes real-time processing power.
Plus, Google invested tons of money and brain power into those machine learning algorithms. But the actual tracking of physical fingers can't be more precise than ultrasonic cause the wavelength is about the same.
Bottom line: Elliptic Labs tech is much more promising for wearables, power consumption being one of the main reasons. Plus, no one wants to be exposed to additional harmful EM radiation whereas ultrasound is completely safe even for babies.
Agree completely. Why use EM at 60Ghz when low power ultrasound is actually better and not affected by stray EM radiation from other sources like small electric motors nearby or on the device itself ?!. Engineering needs a dose of science in order to make it human friendly.
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kpkp - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
"and the Ara team faced"ATAP*
JoshHo - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
Apologies for the typo, it has been fixed.mapesdhs - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
Why on earth did Google choose the name Jacquard... that's already heavily used in the textile industry as one of the main programs for designing knitting patterns on Stoll/SIRIX & M1 systems. I get the reference re weaving, but the name overuse is dumb.T1beriu - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
It's a project name, not a consumer facing brand name. Probably it will change when it will go mainstream.ptmmac - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
It is also an homage to the first calculating machines. Weaver's were the first ones to build machines complex enough to make calculations.samirkseth - Sunday, May 31, 2015 - link
Punched cards based on the ones used in Jacquard looms were used by a company called Tabulating Machine Corporation in the USA for tabulating machines. This company later became IBM, and the punched cards became the one of the earliest mechanisms for input into computers. So perhaps it is appropriate to give the name Jacquard as the wheel turns full circle, and we have computing merging with textiles to provide a new way to input data into computers.jjj - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
"the addition of Force Touch and the digital crown in addition to the touchscreen really resolves most of the problems that come with small display of smart watches. "That's one truly dumb thing to say, to consider the digital crown as a viable option is beyond outrageous. Wow!
mkozakewich - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
noZak - Saturday, May 30, 2015 - link
Does this mean I will actually be able to give someone a finger over the interwebs?loki1725 - Sunday, May 31, 2015 - link
60GHz has a wavelength of 5mm. To get any kind of directional antenna you generally need several wavelengths of antenna. I'd love to take that chip into my test chamber and see what the tx and rx radiation patterns look like. The demo didn't look to me like it was actually tracking fingers, but had a lot of assumptions about different movements.Soli looks really cool and I wan't wait to learn more about it.
angrydude - Wednesday, June 3, 2015 - link
Wait a minute !60 GHz radiowaves = 5mm wavelength
wide cone of transmitted waves
possible 180 degrees of interaction
range from 5 cm to 5 m (I very highly doubt 5 m for "wearables" btw)
This sounds almost identical to Elliptic Labs tech based on ultrasound waves:
40Kh ultrasound = 8mm wavelength
same wide cone transmitted signal and full 180 degrees of interactive space
Range from few centimeters to 2-3 meters (fully confirmed by their demos)
The difference: power consumption for ultrasonic-based technology is orders of magnitude less than for microwaves or light for that matter. That includes real-time processing power.
Plus, Google invested tons of money and brain power into those machine learning algorithms.
But the actual tracking of physical fingers can't be more precise than ultrasonic cause the wavelength is about the same.
Bottom line: Elliptic Labs tech is much more promising for wearables, power consumption being one of the main reasons. Plus, no one wants to be exposed to additional harmful EM radiation whereas ultrasound is completely safe even for babies.
Disclaimer: I do not work for Elliptic Labs.
fteoath64 - Saturday, June 6, 2015 - link
Agree completely. Why use EM at 60Ghz when low power ultrasound is actually better and not affected by stray EM radiation from other sources like small electric motors nearby or on the device itself ?!. Engineering needs a dose of science in order to make it human friendly.