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The Leap: Gesture Control Like Kinect, But Cheaper and Higher Resolution
MrSeb writes "It seems Minority Report-style computer interfaces might arrive a whole lot sooner than we expected: A new USB device, called The Leap, creates an 8-cubic-feet bubble of 'interaction space,' which detects your hand gestures down to an accuracy of 0.01 millimeters — about 200 times more accurate than 'existing touch-free products and technologies,' such as your smartphone's touchscreen or Microsoft Kinect. Unfortunately Leap Motion (the company behind the Leap) is being very tight-lipped about the technology being used, but it's probably some kind of infrared LIDAR (radar, but using light), or perhaps a high-resolution version of Kinect (which only uses a 640x480 camera). It's available to pre-order for $70 — and developers can register for a free device + SDK."
Why do we need all these fucking gestures and shit? I guess most people still haven't figured out how to TYPE.
"about 200 times more accurate than 'existing touch-free products and technologies,' such as your smartphone's touchscreen"
They sure have a bizarre definition of "touch-free" if it includes a touchscreen.
That's nice, but what I would really like is some gesture control that's -unlike- Kinect.
I'm having trouble understanding exactly what kinds of technology this device is using to obtain accuracy on the level of 10 micrometers for $70. On the website they only state:
Leap Motion technology is a breakthrough in computer interaction, using a patented mathematical approach to 3D, touch-free motion sensing and motion control software that’s unlike anything that currently exists on the market or in academia. Developed over the past 4 years, Leap Motion moves far beyond the current technologies designed for distant arm waving.
But that say a whole lot of nothing... Why are they being so coy about the technology behind the device? According to cnet, the company says:
"It's not as if we're using lots of processing power or some new hardware that just came on to the market," he said. "This is really about a fundamental scientific breakthrough, many Eureka moments that (Holz) stumbled through over four or five years of research."
So they want me to believe they came up with some magic algorithm, and not some new hardware tech? Because as far as I'm aware, the limitations in most sensors is hardware based, not software.
... i need exactly ONE GESTURE to communicate with it.
Very considerate to show that you can play Angry Birds with chopsticks. I look forward to being able to play an alternative "Angry Birds" with my single chopstick..
"If anyone needs me, I'm in the angry dome."
Will be the only one around with enough upper body strength to continuously use such a device day in and day out
I should really book mark that Penny Arcade strip.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
I would love to be able to lean back, rest my elbows on my chair armrest, forearms vertical, and control stuff by moving my fingers around. Much less strain on the wrists.,since the hands would be directly over them and in a neutral position.
Just want to mention, these guys are currently funding up and looking to put a shine on their company. With the secrecy all you're getting is their own spin, no actual info, and they are very much doing it do create buzz for their funding.
This is not a tech story, it's a stock pump in disguise. I'm not saying it's a pump and dump, but this is a pump for sure. It seems to be aligned with the Facebook IPO news to try to catch more ears.
I say this because I heard this news last week through my parents, who have an aggressive stockbroker who brings them endless "get rich quick" stock pumps. And for some reason they don't get rid of the guy even though he's pretty much all the worst things you can think of in a stockbroker. Must be a friend of the family.
How big an area does Kinect cover again? Nice on the precision, but the effective area is about my seated computing space.
I guess this means Mark Shuttleworth was prescient about Unity !#
(Sorry, Mark.)
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
0.01 mm * 200 woudl be 2 mm for Kinect. That seems accurate enough to me. It's pretty darn small.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
It's 404ing, for now. http://live.leapmotion.com/developer-kit-application
Most of their website seems to not exist. The "about", "blog" and "pre-order" pages are no longer there -- if they ever were. Google's cache doesn't seem to have them. Nor does the Internet Archive have a copy.
The domain was registered with GoDaddy on April 12 of this year. The domain of the registrant (ocuspec.com) redirects to leapmotion.com.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
It would have been far more interesting if they compared the accuracy to the SEGA Activator if not for the pure nostalgic value.
For the people who don't remember the activator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql-UZv3AS-E
(And yes, the guy with the activator beat the snot out of the guy with te controller in the video. :-))
$70 pre-order for "expected" delivery next year. Article short on details, long on promises. A website where many of the pages don't function. I think I'm better off buying a 2-3 shares of Facebook.
Remember those gloves he wore?... well, we don't need them. Amazing technology.
I wonder if it will kill the mouse.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
Usually, they give a discount for pre-orders.
But their website says it'll be $69.99 retail. So why should I pre-order for that amount?
I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
And asked me if these games work better on touch screens... I found myself for the first time questioning the use of keyboard/mouse combination for MMORPGs.
Surely Slashdot has links to someone who has thought of this?
I swear they give me mod points to shut me up.
Detecting not only when you physically touch the screen, but also being able to detect where your hands or fingers are even *near* the screen? There could be some seriously cool applications for that.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
... but this has "fake" written all over it.
If they really managed to create an device that tracks multiple objects, in 3D (even when stacked), and with a resolution of 10 microns they won't just revolutionize computers and gaming. I've used industrial sensing devices that cost 100x as much and aren't even remotely capable of such feats.
If it'll have F/OSS Linux drivers available at launch time, I'll pre-order one. Haven't touch windows for years, though.
I was really excited to see this kind of technology until I saw the following on their website:
Patented? Mathematical? It's bad enough that companies are patenting software that is just obscured math, but now they are effing patenting mathematics itself????
This has so many levels of wrong written all over it, I can't begin to explain...
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Why do we need all these fucking keyboards and shit? I guess most people still haven't figured out how to PLUG SHUNTS.
Why do we need all these fucking shunts and shit? I guess most people still haven't figured out how to RESOLDER PATHWAYS.
A typical human cell is ~ 10 microns.
I think it could be really useful to have such a device because it could ease the use of a lot of devices, and probably be used to draw finger gestures in the air to achieve effects, like opening the light. I have a few X25 domotics controllers which could be hooked to the Leap (via a dedicated software written by myself and the OSS community why not) and i dream to be able to use these controllers since the beginning but i was missing a cool device to activate them (the physical interface to the controller is a line of physical buttons on an horrible design switch -> not sexy for domotic, gestures in the air are much much better). So i think i could be a wizard with this this and drive my home by hand ! what did you think about this ?
PS: i have already applied for a dev sdk and device, effervens.com as registrant if it can helps :-)
They have a little wireless device sitting below the screen that supposedly can sense the position of individual fingers of a hand above it. That tells us something.
One interesting option is using the monitor's speakers for ultrasound and putting some microphones in the pickup. Now you have two emitters some distance apart, and some number of detectors close together. That configuration is powerful enough to image. See "One-handed gesture recognition using ultrasonic Doppler sonar" People have been fooling around with this sort of thing for years, but nobody has really nailed the problem yet. It's similar to the problem of emulating bat sonar. Part of the trick, I expect, is that the system measures both effects on the direct path from speaker to microphone and on the path which involves a reflection from the screen. That gives you the distance-from-screen information.
You probably could get 0.2mm of resolution if you sampled the microphones at 2MHz or so. Bats have roughly that resolution.
The Apple Thunderbolt monitor they're using has two high-frequency speakers, a subwoofer, a microphone, and a camera. It's not clear how much of that complement they're using for positional data.
The website exists, it's just really slow loading. They claim to have a patent on their mathametical detection methods. If that's true, then we should be able to figure out if they are for real and it their product actually works. They also claim dev kits will ship within 1-3 months. We'll know soon if they're full of shit.
Here is their about page text:
About
Read FAQs
Say goodbye to your mouse and keyboard.
Leap represents an entirely new way to interact with your computers. It’s more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen. For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.
This isn’t a game system that roughly maps your hand movements. The Leap technology is 200 times more accurate than anything else on the market — at any price point. Just about the size of a flash drive, the Leap can distinguish your individual fingers and track your movements down to a 1/100th of a millimeter.
This is like day one of the mouse. Except, no one needs an instruction manual for their hands.
Get ready, get set, go.
We asked one simple question: ‘What feel’s natural?’. Using a Leap is easy. And the next thing you know, a swipe in the air leads to a swipe of the page. So that nice LED display remains clean and untouched, as it should be.
Setup is just as intuitive. Plug the LEAP into a USB port. Load the Leap Motion software. Do a quick wave to calibrate. That’s it.
In minutes, you’ll be able to interact with your desktop using natural hand and finger movements.
It sounds too good to be true, we know. But, that’s what we specialize in around here.
We are changing the world
Two or three hundred thousands lines of code later, we’ve figured out how to use the Leap to create an interaction space around your computer, in 3D. Able to distinguish thumbs from fingers, and even handheld items like pencils. This allows users to interact like never before, using only natural movements.
And we went a step further. You will be able to create custom gestures that fit how you want to use your computer. You can even network more than one Leap device, to create even larger interaction areas.
We’ve been able to link Leap to dozens of applications and operating systems.
But this is just the beginning. As our development community builds, who knows what the future holds?
FAQs
GENERAL
What exactly is The Leap?
The Leap is a small iPod sized USB peripheral that creates a 3D interaction space of 8 cubic feet to precisely interact with and control software on your laptop or desktop computer. It’s like being able to reach into the computer and pull out information as easily as reaching into a cookie jar.
The Leap senses your individual hand and finger movements independently, as well as items like a pen. In fact, it’s 200x more sensitive than existing touch-free products and technologies. It’s the difference between sensing an arm swiping through the air and being able to create a precise digital signature with a fingertip or pen.
What can I do with The Leap?
The possibilities are endless, really. Computer power has grown exponentially over the years, but the way we interact with those computers has not. With LEAP, virtually every kind of application, across every industry, can be re-imagined.
Art. Healthcare. Engineering. Operating Systems. Gaming. If you can imagine it, we’re pretty confident there’s a remarkable member of our developer community who is already working to create it.
What is Leap Motion technology?
Leap Motion technology is a breakthrough in computer interaction, using a patented mathematical approach to 3D, touch-free motion sensing and motion control software that’s unlike anything that currently exists on the market or in academia. Developed over the past 4 years, Leap
Will it register obscene gestures, and send them to the Vatican?
Brrr... Albino Opus Dei knocking on your door...
Quit whining about patents. If they're doing it the way I think they're doing it (see previous post), they've solved a very tough problem in acoustic processing. That's a significant invention. Without a patent, it would be ripped off by game console manufacturers and TV makers.
software is just defrosted hardware.
Its possible to take ANY algorithm and cast it in silicon.
That was one of the tenets in the creation of Forth by Charles Moore.
It would be possible to implement this using a FAST Arduino microcontroller, maybe with some extra memory, and a few (2+) good (>40kHz) sonar sensors.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
How does a single sensor at the base of ones monitor, manage to map the top surface of ones hands? This device looks awesome, and too good to be true. I'm sceptical.
Pre-orders are available for $70 and are estimated to ship in January 2013. This is so (unbelievably) cool, that they should be able to get 100,000 takers, no problem.
So here's the real question: Can anyone here take 7 million dollars and hire enough geniuses to invent and manufacture this in 7 months?
If so, Leap Motion would probably like your contact info.
Nor can you hardwire a targeting and firing sequence without some form of cybernetic feedback mechanism and a state machine.
But the distinctions are harder to make than you think.
Where do you cut off the hardware and cut over the state machine?
Just because a state machine requires some initialization upon activation doesn't mean that it can't be implemented in hardware.
Just because you were implemented in wetware doesn't mean that you didn't develop a will.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
Is it compatible with the Phantom?
If they preprocess the data and only transmit the location of the points of interest (say density transitions, which correspond to surfaces), the bandwidth requirement drops substantially. At about 50 seconds into the ExtremeTech video it shows what appears to be some sort of point cloud corresponding to the surface of the hand(s). I assume this is pretty close to the raw data sent to the computer.
From publicly available research of one of the founders:
Abstract of a talk:
David Holz
Seeing the World Through Shadows
Advisor/Professor: Dr. Eugene Belogay
We present techniques for 3D imaging and light tracking based on the analysis of shadows. Illuminating an unknown object with lights of different colors and positions, we use the shadows it casts to estimate its position and shape. The beautiful and surprising geometry of the elliptical shadow of a sphere allows us to calibrate the imprecise positions of the lights with remarkably few measurements.
It's never been about YOUR need.
There fixed it.
They need to have an excuse to sell you a tv with a camera that watches you.
Video conferencing isn't enough as people will cover that with tape when not in use. They need an excuse to have it working all the time.
Of course, I'm talking about collecting viewership information and shifting commercials to when you are actually watching. Maybe turn up the sound and play a more audio-centric commercial when you run to the bathroom. Count viewers watching and feedback stats on viewing behaviour. I'll leave the nefarious theories for others to explore.
When did you ever think it was for you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_d6KuiuteIA
Off the top of my head, I could think of a few musical applications for this:
- Virtual theremin-type things.Jean Michel Jarre wannabes could have a field day with this: you could use it for the introduction of additional expression, modulation, etc. for non-contact instruments such as laser harps.
- Training orchestra conductors. We could have software that plays multitracked orchestral music, and the gesture tracking could control the balance, etc. between the various sections of the orchestra. I believe that EPCOT used to have something along these lines many years ago (albeit much more primitive) involving a set of light beams.
- Quick switching between electric guitar effects setups, etc.
There are probably many others too.
The company does not appear in Andreesen Horowitz entire portfolio while these venture investors are beeing mentionned on their website.
This is just a thought, I'm (mostly) a layperson. Perhaps the technology behind it is something akin to a "ping."
Perhaps It sends a scan out, and uses the reflectivity of an object (calibration required thanks to melanin) to determine whether there is something there. So the point in the point cloud that contain nothing (though it seems like...dirt in the air would fuck this up 10 microns?!) is ignored and dumped. So it would effectively be finding your hands in every scan, without having to incorporate a point cloud system that you don't need scientific notation (or a really, really big piece of paper) to describe in a quantitative sense.