Google Pixel smartwatch could borrow THIS innovative feature from the Pixel 4

Google Pixel Watch rumours have been around as long as I can remember, but a recent update suggests Google's flagship smartwatch could be on the horizon and gives a little glimpse at what features it could include.

A recently published patent details a system that uses an optical sensor in the body of a smartwatch to detect gestures made with a wearer’s fingers, wrists or arms.

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The patent, which was published in May and discovered by Patently Apple, states the gestures would need to be carried out using the hand or arm that the smartwatch is worn on.

One of the gestures included in the patent is making a fist to launch a feature (such as Google Assistant or dictation software) and then opening the fist to dismiss the feature.

As well as the 'fist' gesture, the patent also shows the user tapping one or more fingers against your thumb, with a different number of taps allowing for different features to trigger. 

We could see this being used to pause, and skip music, for example.

The system uses an optical sensor which is designed to be small and power-efficient. 

Of course, it's worth remembering that many patents never see the light of day, and there's no guarantee that we'll see this feature in the Google Pixel Watch (if the Pixel smartwatch ever arrives).

It does, however, make sense that the Pixel Watch would include this feature to match the Pixel 4 smartphone, itself featuring a similar technology called Motion Sense, which allows you to make gestures in the air above your phone.

There's no telling when the Google Pixel Watch will arrive, either, after many other rumoured release dates have come and gone. If Google is planning to launch it this year, however, we'd expect it to arrive alongside the Pixel 5 in October/November time.

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