Google launches Ripple to bring its tiny radar tech to more devices ? and cars

Companies including Ford, Texas Instruments, and blood sensor maker Blumio are already on board.CES organizer the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) is hosting Ripple for the time being, with the goal to "enable hardware / software interoperability and accelerate the growth of applications for general purpose consumer radar".As noted by 9to5Google, the initiative comes out of the Advanced Technology & Projects (ATAP) group at Google, previously responsible for Project Soli – miniature radar tech built into the Pixel 4, Pixel 4 XL, and the 2nd-gen Nest Hub.Those Google gadgets demonstrated some of the uses of radar components: detecting hand gestures above a phone, for example, and monitoring your movements during sleep without any need for a wearable. "General purpose radar is a key emerging technology for solving critical use cases in a privacy-respecting way."If you've used a Pixel 4 or Pixel 4 XL, then you'll know that the motion-sensing radar module they include can actually be very useful – not just for recognizing gestures, but also for detecting when the device is being moved and when it's about to be picked up (alarms can get quieter as you reach your hand over to switch them off, for instance).Google didn't include the same capabilities in the Pixel 5 or Pixel 6 phones, despite making noises that it was still invested in the technology for the long term.