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Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

leapmotion.com

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Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#51

Post by mr_luc »

weego wrote: post #41
rglover wrote: post #33

If you're an interface designer (I am), you should pre-order this thing. This will be a standard form of interaction in a couple of years and you should jump on it early and start figuring out the kinks. Too cool.

It really won't. Have you any idea how tiring waving your arms around like that would be all day? There are so many use cases where it doesn't even work that would require a complete rethink of how anything is presented on in internet. For example how about the HN comments where it's pasted as code and it scrolls horizontally. Target that and scroll it with that system. As soon as you have a single use case where a m…

I'm familiar with the usual "arm-waving sucks" arguments against gesture-based inputs, but I was just wondering -- is there any reason this couldn't just replace the touchpad on laptops, maybe being integrated into the forward edge for a larger field of view?

They do claim sub-mm accuracy; maybe applications in the small are realistic.

So instead of arm-waving, think of rotating your hand just above the touchpad to rotate and object in 3d space, but briefly. And the touchpad would still work like a regular touchpad, but maybe you don't even need to touch it.

Sub-mm accuracy seems to imply that really subtle gestures could work.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#52

Post by davydka »

jasonwatkinspdx wrote: post #42
pbreit wrote: post #27

This is very cool technology. The company was formerly "Ocuspec". One break-through is using very inexpensive hardware (<$5 at RadioShack) to get that sub-mm resolution. At the other end of the spectrum, they can cover a football field (and more in the future). What they are showing now is just the beginning. Kudos to rolling out with an SDK. I can inly imagine what sorts of applications developers will dream up.

What's the hardware? Two infrared cameras and a laser dot pattern of some sort?

2 normal digital cameras and a uv or infrared dot pattern. I think the glass is a uv filter. I got to play around with one at work.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#55

Post by Sidnicious »

I’d love to get one of these and play with it. Will the SDK and spec for talking to it be freely available after the initial batch of preorders and free dev kits?

As a counterexample, Emoviv gave a TED talk a while ago showing off a headset that lets you control your computer with your mind. When you visit their website you discover that you can only develop with a $500 “developer edition” headset that comes with a single, nontransferrable license to use the SDK (additional licenses are $99). The consumer model of the headset only runs approved applications.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#56

Post by benjamincburns »

acgourley wrote: post #47

Let's have a constructive comment thread. Instead conveying love or hate for it, how about listing the cases it's good and bad for. good * Fruit Ninja - made for single finger input, short gameplay * Pinching and zooming maps - good because it's usually a short activity * CAD camera interactions - good for periodic strange rotation needs or showing a client that doesn't understand the normal movement hotkeys * Period…

I'm not sure how they're handling variance in user perspective, but assuming they've got that figured out, if you were to couple this with a stereo vision setup and some form of haptic feedback a lot of companies doing 3D design (both CAD and 3D artwork) would eat this up. It won't replace a keyboard and mouse, but it would provide a much more "immersive" way of interacting with the media.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#57

Post by th0ma5 »

fldrog wrote: post #8
rapind wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some relative of Kinect if I had to guess.

Kinect is using stereo-vision using 2 cameras...I don't think they have the same technology here

you must be thinking of something else. kinect has two cameras, one for laser IR particle-filter type stuff, and then an rgb camera. it isn't stereo vision with two regular 2d cameras, however, doing displacement math. it is looking at the grid of dots projected and seeing where the dots moved in order to create a depth map.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#58

Post by ajax77 »

fldrog wrote: post #8
rapind wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some relative of Kinect if I had to guess.

Kinect is using stereo-vision using 2 cameras...I don't think they have the same technology here

Yeah, no. Kinect uses an IR emitter with an IR-based depth camera, there's nothing stereo about it. A regular RGB camera adds color, but that is all.

Re: Leap: A new gesture based interface for devices

#60

Post by jamesfrank »

acgourley wrote: post #47

Let's have a constructive comment thread. Instead conveying love or hate for it, how about listing the cases it's good and bad for. good * Fruit Ninja - made for single finger input, short gameplay * Pinching and zooming maps - good because it's usually a short activity * CAD camera interactions - good for periodic strange rotation needs or showing a client that doesn't understand the normal movement hotkeys * Period…

I disagree with you on the details a bit, but I think viewing this as good at somethings and bad at others is far more constructive than arguing that this should replace a mouse, keyboard etc.

However, I would make the good/bad list a bit more general: * good for manipulating UI elements that represent 3D * bad for manipulating UI elements that represent 2D

Maps and camera interactions (CAD) are perfect examples of things that represent 3D elements. Short games are another area that can represent 3D - longer games might also work well, but the user is likely to get tired of waving his/her arms around.

Much of what we do on computers today is strictly 2D. Coding, word processing, most web browsing, email, etc. Pencil tools/drawing tools are similarly usually just a 2D activity, so using a 3D-capable tool and reducing your movements to 2D doesn't really make sense.

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