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The Leap Motion Controller is Sort of Like a Super Kinect (Video)

Posted by Roblimo on from the touching-nothing-but-a-picture-magically-appears-on-the-screen dept.

What the Leap Motion product (they only have one right now) does is allow you to control your computer with gestures. We're not talking about just jumping around, but "painting" on the screen with your fingers (or even chopsticks) with fine enough control that Autodesk and other drawing-orientd software vendors are working to make applications compatible with the Leap Motion Controller. And game developers? You bet! Lots of them -- and this is for a device that's not even supposed to start shipping until May 13. But, says CEO Michael Buckwald, they already have "hundreds of thousands of pre-orders," so it looks like they are developing a large market for developers (over 12,000 are in the Leap Motion developer program -- out of 50,000 who applied) so it's possible that Leap Motion could become a pretty big deal. (You can see the Leap Motion Controller in action at the end of the video.)

20 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. Looks promising. by P-niiice · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seems like a huge missed opportunity for Microsoft.

    1. Re:Looks promising. by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 5, Funny

      It could explain why all the people one the Microsoft Surface commercials look like they're having grand mal seizures.

    2. Re:Looks promising. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Informative

      "How do you have something like the Kinect and not have patents all over something related that basically would prevent this, or at least cause it to have to license numerous patents? Missed opportunity indeed."

      I am in the Leap developer program and I have one. But I am not an expert on the Kinect. From what I understand, the Kinect uses cameras and visible light to do passive motion detection. The Leap works very differently. It uses active infrared signals and a pair of infrared detectors to do its magic. Unlike the Kinect, its active area is limited to just above the desktop. But also unlike Kinect, they claim precision down to a few microns. I haven't tried to measure the accuracy of mine, but it's pretty darned accurate.

      Also, using the SDK, you can (A) detect all 10 fingers, (B) the position of each finger, (C) the direction each finger is pointing, (D) the position and orientation of the palm, and (E) the relative curvature of the palm (e.g., the diameter of an imaginary ball in your hand).

      It's pretty impressive. The question is how well it will be integrated into software. Like any "alternative" controller, implementation in an individual application might be sad or might be great. There is no way to tell in advance, and I am sure we will see some of each.

    3. Re:Looks promising. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've checked it out some on their website. What you say is far from true.

      The DUO guys aren't "ready to go *today*" at all! They're still in early development! They are WAY behind the LEAP.

      This is what I learned from their website:

      (A) They haven't decided (or announced) the degree to which it will be open source. They said so in a forum on their own website. So that part is still very much up in the air.

      (B) DUO just finished building their development prototype. LEAP has had actual development units out for months. They have gone through 4 physical revisions, and many firmware revisions. Many developers have been actively developing for the LEAP for that same period. I happen to know because (disclaimer) I happen to be one of them. Nevertheless, I am not terribly biased toward the LEAP. I am simply reporting the facts as I see them.

      (C) The LEAP looks pretty nice and it is small. The DUO looks about 3 or 4 times as big, has cameras awkwardly sticking out of it, and looks cheap. Yet for some reason getting on the bandwagon even during the development stage costs almost 2 times the retail price of a LEAP? Say what?

      (D) While they make claims of high accuracy and low latency, I don't see any numbers anywhere. I'll believe that when I see it.

      All in all, at this stage of the game, the LEAP has a hell of a lot going for it that the DUO lacks. Maybe it will be better in the long run. Maybe it will be open source. But neither of those things is anywhere near certain yet.

  2. I like that keyboards require deliberate action. by concealment · · Score: 3, Interesting

    While I'm all for new and exciting technology, I'm not sure I like having cameras around that can be hacked, and visual interfaces that may record motions I make that I do not intend to go into a computer.

    The simplest example would be idly picking my nose, and then coming back later to find those exciting strokes recorded. For those of you who are pornography enthusiasts, a similar problem exists.

    Although keyboards are arguably pretty bad, they don't interpret my actions for me. I have to deliberately seek out the keyboard and type on it. It can't watch me or misinterpret me.

    Now my only enemy is my own tendency toward tyops and speeling errors.

  3. Perfect for a sith Star Wars game by CQDX · · Score: 2

    "I find you lack of faith disturbing..."

  4. I would probably buy one, by bobstreo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Except I don't see Android or Linux on the list of things they run on

    Would be quite nice for tablet, phone or android stick attached to giant TV.

    >>The Leap Motion Controller will change the way you work without changing what already works for you. So it doesn’t replace your keyboard, mouse, stylus, or trackpad. It works with them, and without special adapters. Just plug it into the USB on your Mac or PC, and you’re off.

    1. Re:I would probably buy one, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Check the Linux category in the forum.
      There seems to be a ground swell for Linux support. Be heard.

    2. Re:I would probably buy one, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      https://forums.leapmotion.com/showthread.php?17-Linux-SDK-relase-extimate/page5

      "I just wanted to drop in and give you a little update. Earlier [yesterday], we released our first early build of the Linux SDK to developers on the developer portal. We will be working closely with devs to help make the Linux SDK as robust as possible, and we're looking forward to the feedback"

    3. Re:I would probably buy one, by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      "Right... so why not support the DUO instead... ?"

      While I know quite a bit about the LEAP, information seems pretty scarce about the DUO. Also, I would not be too sure about the Open Source bit. This is from the OS X forum on their website:

      "Thanks for your API feedback. The vision pipeline is not Objective-C, and in answer to your question about source library or precompiled/headers, the degree to which the software will be open source is unannounced yet. However, your thoughts about the SDK are extremely valuable and the team is listening, keep the comments coming!"

      So... they haven't even decided how much, if any, of it will be open source yet. Further, they are nowhere as far along in the development cycle as the LEAP is. Yes, the fact that LEAP was in development was announced quite a while ago. But they did not announce a projected shipping date until recently. What's wrong with that? How many years was the Kinect in development?

      More questions about the DUO to which I did not find ready answers:

      They mention "highly accurate" and "low latency"... but nowhere do they say HOW accurate, or what the latency actually is. (The latter figure of course depends on some variables, but they could give us a baseline.)

      I saw a demo with 5 fingers, but not 10. Can it track 10? I don't know. I know that the LEAP can.

      The DUO looks about 3 or 4 times as large as a LEAP, it looks cheaply made, it is still in early development, they seem to be holding the actual specs pretty close to their chests, yet it costs nearly twice as much as a LEAP? WTF?

      My impression: they're pretty strong on innuendo, pretty short on details, and they have a long way to go yet. All in all, I'll go for now with a product that I know is professionally done and that I know works as advertised (because I have a development unit).

  5. Exactly what Windows 8 needed at launch by jacksonic · · Score: 2

    This turns any computer into a touchscreen. It should have come built in to all windows 8 keyboards: the metro tiles would finally make sense.

  6. Re:I like that keyboards require deliberate action by i+kan+reed · · Score: 2

    Virtually every laptop sold in the country has a built-in camera. What's the distinction of this?

  7. Between this and Win 8 I need to reinvest by paiute · · Score: 2

    I'm pulling my money out of foolish things like municipal bonds and buying stock in companies which make rotator cuff treatments and therapies because that is apparently going to be a huge growth area soon.

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  8. Pew-pew gaming by m2shariy · · Score: 2

    So now we can play first-person shooters by pointing a finger an yelling "Pew-pew-pew"?

  9. Re:Did you guys try it? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I stopped reading after "SXSW"...

    --
    Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
  10. Re:I like that keyboards require deliberate action by vux984 · · Score: 2

    Virtually every laptop sold in the country has a built-in camera. What's the distinction of this?

    It's not normally on. As soon as you make the camera an always on input method, then well.. its always on.

  11. Re:I like that keyboards require deliberate action by Electricity+Likes+Me · · Score: 2

    Yeah, it would be terrible if videos of you picking your nose went up on the internet. As opposed to your bank account passwords, credit card details, actual pornography habits and home address and real name - because if someone can hack the camera its far easier to just log keystrokes and take a screen grab of your desktop every minute.

    Talk about identifying the wrong the problem.

  12. Re:Did you guys try it? by jharriman · · Score: 2

    I tried it at SXSW and it seemed fickle. To me it seems to be one of those devices that work when the planets align just right. And since their architecture is proprietary, I won't be able to modify things myself to try and improve the detection (or use it in other, cool ways). That's why personally, the DUO is a lot more appealing and I contributed to the DUO kickstarter.

  13. Re:I like that keyboards require deliberate action by Dins · · Score: 2

    Right. But it's far quicker and easier to address the camera issue with a small piece of tape that will solve the problem (or lack thereof, granted) permanently in less than a minute than it is to satisfactorily address the other issues you mention.

    Jeeze people, lighten up...

  14. How About Learning A Little Before Piping Up? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative

    "While I'm all for new and exciting technology, I'm not sure I like having cameras around that can be hacked, and visual interfaces that may record motions I make that I do not intend to go into a computer."

    The LEAP does not take pictures. It does not even contain a camera.

    While it works kind of like a Kinect (in that they both use light), the similarity pretty much stops there.