I still own a Google device with that tech on it (Home Display), and, yeah it isn't useful. They just hide certain UI elements until your hand gets close, which is obnoxious and feels like they invented something then invented a usage for it to justify it.
UI should be consistent, it allows users to learn a muscle memory, this "hide stuff until you're 20cm away" stuff is the antithesis of that (and all good design in general).
This was a solved problem in the 1st and 2nd generation of AirPods with tap controls[1]. I'm still surprised that they removed that feature in favor of pressure, although now that I'm reflecting more on it, I wonder if it's part of Apple using their manufacturing and engineering as a moat[2]. i.e. Tap controls are relatively easy, so once wireless earbuds became commodities, they had to figure out some way to differentiate themselves.
That said, as someone who does pottery (messy hands), wears gloves/hats (stuff in the way), and has relatively poor fine motor control, I guess I welcome any solution that doesn't mean getting clay or cold air in my hair/ear.
The battery consumption and latency of the IR cameras will be interesting though. Too sensitive, and you'll eat up your battery. Not sensitive enough, and UX suffers.
This will go absolutely nowhere and personally am tired of hearing about some good bills that become nothing. The US will not even let the military have the right to repair. https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/09/us_military_right_to_.... The US is beholden to defense contractors and corporations. The government cares very little if at all about the quality of life of anyone
while id love a more affordable EV for sure I dont see that happening anytime soon in the US with current administrations hatred of electric vehicles. Second, i dont understand how a website dedicated to car news thinks a very small car will sell well in the US when it sadly seems clear to me that the vast majority prefer larger cars for at least the last 30 years.
Like others have said to justify their spending/make shareholders happy. its exactly like why is web search a part of windows search feature ? The answer is simple: gotta make Bing look good to shareholders
while arctic make fairly good high performing fans for cheap their bearings/acoustics are kind of bad. i bought 5 of the original p12 max fans with the ball bearings. they all made a chirping noise at various rpms (even after getting 5 new ones from arctic). the new p12 pro fans perform great but around 1200 rpms the motor is very loud and annoying
really wish arctic would now focus on the acoustics of their fans because its there weakest point. i wouldnt mind spending a bit more per fan if the sound profile wasnt just straight terrible which personally theirs are to me at the moment
For those curious meta actually bought out a company that orginally pioneered this idea (wrist controller) from a company called CTRL+Labs in 2019. Here is a verge article that has some photos of the prototype from CTRL-Labs. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/6/17433516/ctrl-labs-brain-c...
Another company doing this (mentioned in the Verge article) was Thalmic Labs, a YC company from 2013, which was acquired by Google in 2020. I remember seeing their presentation at YC Demo Day and it was jaw-dropping stuff; one of the only demos I still remember, 12 years on.
It's sad to see they didn't make it as a commercial success, and is a grim reminder that brilliant innovation doesn't assure a successful outcome.
Pretty sure Thalmic sold the tech to CTRL+. I’ve still got one of the bands knocking around somewhere. It was cool tech, but really wasn’t ready for a product.
Thalmic then became North to make smart glasses and then got sold to Google
THe same people who wanted web searches to appear in windows search bar, the higher ups at microsoft. they juice their numbers and say "See, look how many people are using our recall product. just like "See, look how many people are using Bing (in case of the web searches in windows search).
might i suggest purchasing a bidet. you can get one for less than $50 on amazon and it will help you dramatically cut down on toilet paper. it also makes you feel so much cleaner. my two cents
> might i suggest purchasing a bidet. you can get one for less than $50 on amazon and it will help you dramatically cut down on toilet paper
You may suggest whatever you want :) We do have an installed bidet in our main bathroom, as most houses where I live has those. Tried it, didn't like it, will proceed with using paper as currently it doesn't have many drawbacks and doesn't leave me feeling "more dirty" afterwards than using water would.
Look at your local community colleges if you are in the US. a lot of them have classes for simple every day car repair to classes to become a certified mechanic
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