SideSwipe brings gesture controls to phones using radio signals

Imagine if your smartphone was ringing away in your bag or pocket, and you were able to silence it simply by waving your hand in the air, without even taking the phone out. Well, that could soon be a reality, thanks to technology being developed at the University of Washington. Known as SideSwipe, the experimental system allows a phone to recognize gestures via the manner in which the user’s hand reflects back the phone’s own wireless transmissions.