New Google patents hint at gesture controls for Glass

It looks like Google wants to move on from just using voice and the swipe bar on Glass to control it...

Shunal Doke|Oct 16, 2013, 12:55:28 IST

It looks like Google wants to move on from just using voice and the swipe bar on Glass to control it. The company has filed for a new patent that essentially opens the door to bring full-fledged gesture support to Glass. According to the patent, making a "heart" shape with both of your hands will let Glass understand if something important is going on.

In one of the examples used in the patent’s description, a social media app could detect the gesture as its own variant of the “like”. When the heart gesture is made, Glass will detect it using the built-in camera and automatically “like” the highlighted object or location.

"Heart" things to like them on social media

It is worth noting, however, that the patent doesn’t necessarily mean that the next Glass update will have gestures. It just shows that Google is experimenting with making the world of Minority Report a reality. We just hope this doesn’t mean pre-crime becomes a real thing.

Back in September, Google had released an update to Glass that added a host of new features, including the addition of YouTube videos in search results, sound search, which adds the ability to identify whatever song you might be listening to, and Glass with Google Apps accounts, which lets users log in with just one account to access all of Google's features. This is already working on some services, like Gmail.