The next Google Pixel Watch could be button-free and rely on gesture recognition controls, with the aim of making the most of the watch’s space.
That goes through a patent submitted by Google (as noted by Wareable) which seems to suggest that by ditching the buttons, a Google smartwatch could have fewer moving parts and therefore a neater design.
“The content on such a small screen is easily hidden when you touch the device, making it difficult to select and scroll accurately because the user cannot see what they are selecting or scrolling,” the patent says.
This would be made possible by having new sensors on the side of the watch that can detect specific presses, taps and pinches on the sides to act as a form of gesture recognition.
The patent is titled “Gesture recognition on watch bezel using strain gauges,” which could indicate that the sides of a future Pixel Watch could be squeezable, similar to those of Google’s Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 phones, and likely only depend on sensors instead of moving. components.
Judging from the intent of the patent, this would indicate that a next-generation Pixel Watch won’t have a larger screen, although we do hope that the bezels will be trimmed slightly to provide more screen real estate without increasing the watch’s footprint.
An image in the patent also suggests that the crown used to scroll through apps on the Pixel Watch, and also acts as a home button, may be scrapped altogether on a future Google smartwatch.
One to watch
The current Pixel Watch 2 actually only has one dedicated standalone button, just above the digital crown, so it’s not like it’s decorated with buttons.
But going without buttons and taking advantage of gesture recognition could not only avoid the challenge of hiding a screen when tapping on-screen icons, it could also make a future Pixel Watch more durable and likely to be more resistant against water and dust because it has fewer external moving parts and therefore less space for gaps between the external and internal hardware.
However, this has been submitted and not yet granted, so the technology Google is proposing may not come to fruition. And even if a patent is granted, it is no guarantee that the proposed technology or techniques will end up in a consumer device. But it feels like a Pixel Watch without buttons doesn’t go beyond the imagination; we suspect we’ll have to wait until later next year at the earliest before we see a next-generation Pixel Watch.