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Google Launching a New Nest Hub In 2021 That Uses Soli For Sleep Tracking (9to5google.com) 28

Google is planning to release a new Nest Hub in 2021 that will feature sleeping tracking powered by the company's Soli radar technology. 9to5Google reports: Google's Advanced Technology and Projects group first unveiled Soli in 2015, but it did not launch on a consumer device until 2019. The sensor lets you perform air gestures over the Pixel 4 to play/pause and skip/rewind tracks, as well as snooze alarms and silence phone calls. It's also used to speed up face unlock by detecting when users reach for their phone and turning on the components needed for recognition. Third-party Android developers can incorporate the tech, which emits radar waves, into games and other interactive experiences. Meanwhile, the new Nest Thermostat also leverages it for improved motion sensing to wake the screen when you walk by.

Soli will soon be used to track sleep. Embedded into this upcoming Nest Hub, Google is embracing how Smart Displays are often placed on bedside tables as alarm clocks and speakers. The original Nest Hub is more likely to be used in sensitive areas since it lacks a camera, with sleep tracking serving as another incentive to place this device on your nightstand. The FCC filing at the start of this week revealed that the Soli sensor placed in the Nest Hub will have technical capabilities identical to the Pixel 4. Google has long touted precise and fine gesture recognition, like spinning a virtual dial or adjusting a slider. This should translate to detecting any body movements you make at night. For comparison, the Nest Thermostat uses a more limited version of Soli to detect general motion. It's possible that Google will also use Soli on this Nest Hub for gestures to control content. The Nest Hub Max today already uses its camera to play/pause tracks when you hold up a hand.

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Google Launching a New Nest Hub In 2021 That Uses Soli For Sleep Tracking

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  • Difficult to Do (Score:5, Insightful)

    by kenwd0elq ( 985465 ) <kenwd0elq@engineer.com> on Saturday January 09, 2021 @02:06AM (#60914656)

    Soli would have a very difficult time tracking my sleep, because there are no electronic devices in the bedroom. And no "smart" Googlag devices, or Alexa devices, or any other "smart" devices in my home.

    And there never will be.

    • Soli would have a very difficult time tracking my sleep, because there are no electronic devices in the bedroom. And no "smart" Googlag devices, or Alexa devices, or any other "smart" devices in my home.

      And there never will be.

      Exactly. It is the lack of electronic devices and their disruptive light and sound, that best enables sleep for many.

      That whole 6-8 hours of sleep every night? Yeah, that was established back when TV channels went off air for a few hours a day, and a world was seemingly smarter about the rat race. Rather hard to do after the planet got infected with a 24-hour news cycle, and an internet full of addiction to deliver bad news and anything else your distracted mind desires at 4AM.

      Using an electronic devic

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      I tried sleep tracking years ago. Little device that goes under the pillow, read it back with NFC.

      It wasn't that helpful, didn't provide much useful information that I could actually act on.

      • Yes, I'm sure it wasn't helpful to you, but did you see an uptick in spam concering special pillows and other sleep-related products? Because I'm sure whoever was collecting data on your sleep habits made a few bucks off that.
        • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Well back then I had a rooted phone so I firewalled off the app that read the data, not that it even tried to send anything out. So the short answer is no, no extra spam.

          • Sounds like it also must've been before everyone was as gung-ho as today on surveilling and spying on everyone all the time.
    • You can simply heat the humans with some microwave radar. no need to heat the whole house or even have blankets. you just have to keep it low enough to avoid cooking the proteins in the eyeballs like an egg. But no worries Google has a money back warranty for the first 90 days if it does.

    • and for how long. positions. etc... Warns you if you are in danger of going blind, and chides you if you do less than 40 toothbruch strokes. If it's sensitive enough to measure your sleep then it surely can see everything else.

  • see subject.
  • by Rosco P. Coltrane ( 209368 ) on Saturday January 09, 2021 @02:52AM (#60914766)

    Gee, I'm disappointed.

  • We know Google loves health data. Will this allow them to track much more detailed bodily functioning, such as breathing patterns? Imagine the things they could infer from that, such as life expectancy or respiratory disease ("Your movement pattern is 76% similar to people who are known to have Lyme disease"). Do you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night a lot? That's a potential indicator of heart problems. Will it be able to track your sex patterns too? Etc.

    We really need to start explaining to co

  • If its radar can track the typical movements - or lack thereof - of a person or people sleeping, it seems to be only a small step from being able to track more "vigorous" bedtime activities.
    If this device hasn't actually crossed the line, then it is right up to the edge and leaning over.
  • It's a tiny amount, I know, but how many more things do I need radiating in my direction?
    • x This sleep monitor
    • x Wi-Fi from 5 different houses; and dozens(?) of access points at my office
    • x Cellular phones, everywhere
    • x More and more cellular towers (there was a crane hanging more antennas a few blocks away just last month; so now I'm getting hit with 3G, 4G and 5G...I never asked for 5G)
    • x There are two radars within several miles of here; one is supposedly a million Watts
    • x Mandated residential electricity mon
  • Google knows when you're sleeping
    It knows when you're awake
    It knows if you've been bad or good
    So be good for goodness sake ...
    It's making a list
    It's checking it twice
    It's gotta find out who's naughty or nice ....Literally everything fits, so I feel like there's going to be some layoffs at the north pole.

  • You hadda betta sleep right or we will tell your employer, who will then fire you.

  • I have a smartphone on my nightstand every night, but it's in airplane mode and do not disturb mode. I don't have FB or other notification generating crap on my phone (and have notifications turned off for almost everything that will let me) so my phone doesn't make too much noise anyway, but Google in particular likes to send notifications in the middle of the night, which is what prompted me to silence it every night (audio and radio silence) in the first place.
  • We dont have zonal heating in our old houses much and a retro fit would be too pricey.
    Google don't even sell remote sensors in the UK for use with a non smart TRV.

    So it's unless you really want a sexy self learning thermostat that just turns the whole house on or off then it's for you.

    But if you want smart zonal heating, go Hive for their smart TRVs and lightwave to control the lighting as that suits how UK houses are wired.

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