The Microsoft Research video, titled Pre Touch Sensing for Mobile Interaction, showcases how users can interact with a smartphone’s touchscreen screen without really contacting the surface (pun unintentional), simply by hovering their fingers over it. The video demonstrates how the Pretouch technology can comprehend the difference between similar gestures like picking and swiping.

The Pretouch technology seems to use various detectors to find the location of the user’s hands, including whether the smartphone is being held one- or if it’s being grasped on either side. The video also reveals a ‘hybrid touch hover gesture’. The company discloses how these gestures can bring up several interface choices, from manipulating the volume contextual choices for files and Live Tiles, in a video player, swiping through webpages, and playing games.

For now, there isn’t any sign regarding when (or if ever) Microsoft will comprise the Pre Touch technology in its smartphones.

Naturally, the long-rumoured the attribute may be sported by Microsoft Surface Phone. Several reports have pegged three forms in early 2017 and distinct start dates for the Surface Phone together. The latest Surface Mobile report had tipped a Snapdragon 830 SoC would powers the smartphone, coupled with 8GB of RAM.