How Will Google Evolve Android’s UI With Rumored Viewdle Purchase?

Google is rumored to be acquiring artificial reality and facial recognition company Viewdle in a deal that is set to close this week for about $30 to $45 million. Google and its hardware business, Motorola Mobility, declined to comment about the deal and Viedle CEO told ZDNet to contact Motorola Mobility for comment, suggesting that the company’s technologies may make it into Android smartphones in the future.

At this point, it’s still unclear how Google will use Viewdle’s technologies or how those technologies will be integrated into various Google products, but Android, YouTube, Google+, and a few others would be likely candidates for integration.

Viewdle’s technologies can help Google more easily identify faces in photos and videos and may help Android users improve and automate tagging of known faces in their Gallery or camera roll. The technology could also be integrated with video through YouTube and on social network like Google+. Samsung has been experimenting with tagging and face recognition on its latest TouchWiz UX on the Galaxy S III smartphone. The Viewdle acquisition may allow Google to offer other Android manufacturers a similar experience.

Another Viewdle technology would be gesture recognition and Google could further expand or refine Android’s overall UI. Google had unveiled Face Unlock on its latest versions of the Android OS as a touch-free way to unlock their Android smartphones without having to enter a PIN code or a password. Viewdle’s technologies can help Google develop more gesture support where users can interact with their Android smartphones and tablets without even touching the screen, for example.

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