All posts tagged: handsfree

Hands-on with the first hands-free smart locks from Schlage and Ultraloq.

Hands-on with the first hands-free smart locks from Schlage and Ultraloq.

Published by Webster

Imagine walking up to your front door and it unlocks — even opens — automatically as you approach. It may sound like the stuff of smart home dreams, but it could soon be a reality, thanks to ultra-wideband (UWB) technology arriving on smart locks. With its precise, real-time location capabilities, UWB enables a smart lock to react to the presence of your phone or smartwatch as you approach your door, unlocking it with no intervention on your part. Both the lock and your device need a UWB chip, but this touchless experience means there’s no need to pull out your phone, fiddle with keycodes, fingerprints, or, god forbid, an actual key. I got to demo the first locks to support the wireless communication protocol at CES last month, and I am ready for my hands-free smart lock future. Fast, easy, and frictionless, hands-free unlocking is the kind of convenience the smart home needs I test a lot of smart door locks and haven’t used a house key in a decade. But unlocking my front door …

Rivian will add hands-free driver assist to vehicles this year, ‘eyes-off’ next year

Rivian will add hands-free driver assist to vehicles this year, ‘eyes-off’ next year

Published by Webster

Rivian is planning to launch a hands-free driving assistant system for its electric R1T and R1S vehicles later this year, followed by an “eyes-off” version in 2026, reveals Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe in a press roundtable interview according to a post on Rivian Forums and reported by Electrek. The first part of the system sounds like it will work similarly to Ford’s Blue Cruise or GM’s Super Cruise software, which are Level 2 assistants that only work on highways fully mapped by each manufacturer. It’s unclear if current Gen 1 and Gen 2 Rivian vehicles will support the upcoming hand-free assistant software or if it will come to upgraded models or the upcoming R2 SUV. Gen 2 vehicles already come with exclusive features like matrix headlights and an upgraded light bar that can change colors, which Scaringe says could be used as an indicator to let others know a Rivian is operating autonomously, according to a Rivian Forum user. Gen 2 vehicles also come with a newer Rivian Autonomy Platform, which might mean Gen 1 …

The Schlage Sense Pro smart lock is one of the first with hands-free unlocking using UWB

The Schlage Sense Pro smart lock is one of the first with hands-free unlocking using UWB

Published by Webster

It’s a bit of a moment for the humble door lock. Schlage, one of the oldest lock makers in the US, just launched its first-ever smart door lock without a keyway. But that’s not the most exciting part: the Schlage Sense Pro Smart Deadbolt is the company’s first lock to support the new smart home standard Matter and one of the first ever to use ultra wideband technology (UWB) for hands-free unlocking.  Along with the Sense Pro, Schlage also announced a new entry-level smart lock. The $199 Schlage Arrive Smart WiFi Deadbolt does have a keyway, along with a push button keypad for the touchscreen-adverse. The new locks join the company’s existing Encode smart lock line. The Schlage Sense Pro is a new design for Schlage locks and comes in two finishes: satin nickel (pictured) and matte black (above).Image: Schlage While it’s nice to see a more affordable smart lock option from Schlage (its Encode deadbolts start at $274), the Sense Pro is the headliner. A radical redesign for the company, the new touchscreen lock has a completely …

Mercedes dials up the speed of its hands-free, eyes-off Drive Pilot feature

Published by Webster

Mercedes is still waiting for approval from German regulators before pushing out a software update to customers of vehicles that support Drive Pilot. But once that happens, the company boasts that it will have “the world’s fastest Level 3 system in a series-production vehicle.” Drive Pilot is similar to “hands-free” highway driving systems like GM’s Super Cruise, Ford’s BlueCruise, and Tesla’s Autopilot in so far that it allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel and foot off the pedal under certain conditions. It is currently approved for use in only two states in the US: California and Nevada. But unlike Level 2 systems, in which drivers are required to keep their eyes on the road, Mercedes’ Level 3 system has a few more allowances. That includes letting drivers look away from the road at something else, like a game or a movie, when certain conditions are met. For Drive Pilot to work, there needs to be: a vehicle in front of your car; reasonable road conditions with readable markings and lines; and clear …

Google Launches Accessibility-Focused Project Gameface on Android to Offer Hands-Free Navigation

Published by Webster

Google has expanded its Project Gameface, an open-source project aimed at making tech devices more accessible, to Android, and now it can be used to control the smartphone interface. The project was first introduced during Google I/O 2023 as a hands-free gaming mouse that can be controlled using head movements and facial expressions. These were designed for those who suffer from physical disabilities and cannot use their hands or voice to control devices. Keeping the functioning same, the Android version adds a virtual cursor to allow users to control their device without touching it. In an announcement made on its developer-focused blog post, Google said, “We’re open-sourcing more code for Project Gameface to help developers build Android applications to make every Android device more accessible. Through the device’s camera, it seamlessly tracks facial expressions and head movements, translating them into intuitive and personalised control.” Further, the company asked developers to use the tools to add accessibility features to their apps as well. Project Gameface collaborated with the Indian organisation Incluzza which supports people with disability. …

Microsoft OneNote App for Apple Vision Pro With Hands-Free Note Taking, Virtual Keyboard Support Launched

Published by Webster

Microsoft OneNote was made available for the Apple Vision Pro on Tuesday. The cloud-based note-taking app will now support Vision Pro’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) environments, allowing users an immersive experience. The app will offer both hands-free note-taking by using speech mode and typing through the virtual keyboard and finger-tracking sensors. Notably, earlier this year, Zoom released an app compatible with the mixed-reality headset with support for Apple’s Personas feature as well as expandable virtual meeting rooms. The announcement was made by Greg MacEachern, Product Manager at Microsoft in a blog post, where he said, “Today, we are introducing the newest member of the OneNote family, on the Apple Vision Pro[..]You can plan trips, practice daily habits, and create/edit your task list, all in spatial reality – the OneNote experience on the Apple Vision Pro helps you stay productive, no matter where you are.” Like other apps designed for Apple’s mixed reality headset, the OneNote app will also support AR and VR environments. That means users can open the app floating in …

GM is preparing for another major expansion of its hands-free Super Cruise system

Published by Webster

General Motors may be struggling when it comes to fully autonomous driving, but the company is still feeling bullish about the future of hands-free driving. Today, it announced plans to expand its Super Cruise advanced driver-assist system, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel on certain roads, to cover nearly double the number of miles it did before. Today, Super Cruise is operational on 400,000 miles of road in the US and Canada. The company plans on adding around 40,000 miles of new roads every quarter over the course of two years, so by the end of 2025, Super Cruise will cover approximately 750,000 miles in the US and Canada. Launched in 2017 with the Cadillac CT6, Super Cruise uses information from cameras and radar sensors embedded in the car, GPS data, and lidar mapping data to allow for hands-free driving and, in some cases, automatic lane changes. It pairs this capability with a driver-monitoring system that uses an infrared camera to make sure the driver is keeping their eyes on …

George Hotz wants to ‘make driving chill’ with next-gen Comma 3 hands-free driver assist

Published by Webster

George Hotz just wants to build robots. You can see the desire in the Comma 3, the next-generation assisted driving hardware from his company, Comma.ai.  “It’s got two eyes,” he tells me, pointing to the two forward-facing cameras. He then holds the device up to his face so I can see the cameras are spaced about as far apart as a set of eyes on a human.  Hotz goes on, “It has a mouth for speaking. It can breathe air to cool itself… We’re building a human head.”  “We’re building a human head.” You may remember Hotz when he went by the hacker name “geohot” to jailbreak an iPhone at the tender age of 17. Since then, he’s been a thorn in Elon Musk’s side, dissing Tesla’s Autopilot technology. And he’s pissed off Sony by breaking into a PlayStation 3. (Sony sued but later dropped the suit on the condition that Hotz agree to never tinker with its hardware again.) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been keeping a keen eye on him, to …