8pen + Leap Motion • Hacker News Board

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#11

Post by alexhawdon » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:16 PM UTC

Reminds me of Palm's 'Graffiti', both in execution and scope: it's a stop-gap solution, possibly to a problem that no longer exists.

IMO, their three suggested use-cases are quite flimsy.

"...enable surgeons to take notes during an operation without removing their gloves" - They already can, it's called dictation which is subsequently transcribed by a medical secretary whose time is far less expensive.

"check recipes while cooking without spilling flour on the keyboard" - touchless navigation of a pre-chosen recipe, maybe. Actually stopping cooking to search for a recipe/technique that you're unsure about? I would rather quickly wash my hands and use a more traditional input method to find what I want.

"search for TV programs without leaving their couch" - Given the range of the Leap device this really doesn't make sense - are they envisaging a wireless version you take with you to the couch/coffee table. Some sort of device that can 'remotely control' your television...

I still think Leap Motion is great technology, but still missing a decent application.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#12

Post by involans » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:17 PM UTC

Dirlewanger wrote: post #2

This is going nowhere. It looks like there's too much overhead to get anywhere near as proficient as the guy in the video. Leap Motion in general is awesome technology, but it's going to remain grounded without a practical application.

I use the 8pen android keyboard. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but not more than a couple of days. For short strings of text, the learning curve is fine.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#13

Post by eterpstra » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:18 PM UTC

Why is the guy in the video writing stuff by waving his finger around to make cryptic symbols when there is a perfectly good keyboard only inches away!

Seriously though, I agree there are practical uses for this - such as TV input or some sort of touchless kiosk (in a hospital maybe?). The video just did a poor job of showing what's what.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#14

Post by oulipo » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:19 PM UTC

alexhawdon wrote: post #11

Reminds me of Palm's 'Graffiti', both in execution and scope: it's a stop-gap solution, possibly to a problem that no longer exists. IMO, their three suggested use-cases are quite flimsy. "...enable surgeons to take notes during an operation without removing their gloves" - They already can, it's called dictation which is subsequently transcribed by a medical secretary whose time is far less expensive. "check recipes…

Right now the LeapMotion might not be the device that enables couch-typing, but the 8pen technology makes it possible for other devices, like Kinect

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#15

Post by nailer » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:29 PM UTC

"This video is private."

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#16

Post by skore » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:32 PM UTC

involans wrote: post #12

Dirlewanger wrote: post #2

This is going nowhere. It looks like there's too much overhead to get anywhere near as proficient as the guy in the video. Leap Motion in general is awesome technology, but it's going to remain grounded without a practical application.

I use the 8pen android keyboard. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but not more than a couple of days. For short strings of text, the learning curve is fine.

I tried to like it. Used it for three months, I think. Never really sunk in the way I would have liked to and clever auto-complete works a lot faster for me these days than 8pen ever could.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#17

Post by apendleton » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:35 PM UTC

edgeman27 wrote: post #5

I think the promotional video should show something a little more useful than air-writing. One could have typed (or spoken) the same text in a fraction of the time. How about drawing or painting?

It's a promotion for the text input technology (8pen), not the LeapMotion.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#18

Post by sailfast » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:37 PM UTC

alexhawdon wrote: post #11

Reminds me of Palm's 'Graffiti', both in execution and scope: it's a stop-gap solution, possibly to a problem that no longer exists. IMO, their three suggested use-cases are quite flimsy. "...enable surgeons to take notes during an operation without removing their gloves" - They already can, it's called dictation which is subsequently transcribed by a medical secretary whose time is far less expensive. "check recipes…

Agreed - and if they can't already they will likely just move to commercial dictation that transcribes accurately automatically. I'll use my leap motion to kick-off Dragon, Google, or another app to try their hand at voice recognition. Pretty sure I'd rather just type a transcript myself than learn a new symbol language.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#19

Post by lnanek2 » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:40 PM UTC

Seems pretty lousy. No one wants to hold their arm up in the air tracing out full letters of each word like that. It will get tired.

They don't even let the demo guy keep his elbow on the table, something you should generally do for any gesture input mechanism you are writing that takes a while, even if it means they will just be using a short arc of space.

There are great uses for gesture tracking techniques. Heck, countless people love the various games out there that use motion control, and there's even more industrial use for 3D stuff and posing characters. This is not a great use.

Re: 8pen + Leap Motion

#20

Post by oulipo » Thu, Oct 03, 2013, 1:48 PM UTC

alexhawdon wrote: post #11

Reminds me of Palm's 'Graffiti', both in execution and scope: it's a stop-gap solution, possibly to a problem that no longer exists. IMO, their three suggested use-cases are quite flimsy. "...enable surgeons to take notes during an operation without removing their gloves" - They already can, it's called dictation which is subsequently transcribed by a medical secretary whose time is far less expensive. "check recipes…

There is also technology to use with gamepad http://8pen.com/joysticks#video