The Google Pixel Watch 3 could be controlled by gestures instead of buttons if a newly-founded Google patent (via Wareable) comes to fruition in time.
Detailed within the "Gesture recognition on watch bezel using strain gauges" patent is a concept for a watch operated by swipes, presses and squeezes on the casing rather than a combination of the display and external buttons. The benefit of these controls, the patent explains, is that they stop the user from having to touch the screen as much, which means blocking out parts of the display with whichever finger you're using for navigation.
