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Woz & Jobs 2.0: Leap Motion's Holtz & Buckwald
theodp writes "Over at Popular Science, Tom Foste takes a look at the $79 Leap Motion controller and inventors David Holz and Michael Buckwald, best friends since they were fifth graders in Florida. Potential applications for the device are many, as proof-of-concept demos ranging from controlling Windows 8 (video) to driving JPL's Athlete Rover (video) show. 'If we're successful and build something that is a fundamentally better way to interact with a computer, there are essentially an unlimited number of use cases,' Buckwald says. 'Eventually, anything that has a computer could be controlled with it—every laptop, every desktop, every smartphone, every tablet, every TV, every surgical station, every robot, potentially even a Leap in every car.' And even if 'it's got some growing pains to experience,' writes Ars Technica's Lee Hutchinson, 'it's cool-it's extremely cool. It's not yet a game-changing interface device, but it could be.'"
Which one's Woz and which one's the salesman?
Also, you need the Windows 8 app store I believe
People once told me 68K ram was all we needed,
By $ I mean money. And by how many I mean "how much".
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
So...I can't wrest my arms on the table anymore? Screw this* thing.
* A more florid description was actually used.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
It's the one that paid for this "news" to appear on Slashdot.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Wow. Excuse me if I'm not buying shares in this.
"“I should be able to log in to any computer and not have to know some language to use it,” he said."
There is so much wrong with this overenthusiastic statement from these guys that the Slashdot message thread is going to fill up extremely quickly, i said.
The PC revolution started by Woz and Jobs had roots in the "hippie" movement partially. One of the ideas was that of taking control of the technology from big companies and putting it in the hands of the little guy. They were quite radical in their day. Woz even built blue-boxes to get free calls from ATT. The irony of Apple becoming a big company and partnering with them is delicious.
Anyway, they built a machine for a cause--to change the world. They did that, even if it had a lot of unintended consequences.
Unless these guys built something that symbolizes a total change in the way we live our lives, they're not even close. You can only tell in hindsight; but I'm pretty sure they won't make it.
Seems to me these guys would be the new Douglas Engelbart, inventor of the mouse or E.A. Johnson, and Hurst, inventors of the Touchscreen rather than likening them to the twin gods of Woz & Jobs, who really invented nothing.
If it works we may eventually see the demise of keyboards and mice.
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
I'd be more impressed if they open sourced it and ported it to other platforms But we all know that wont happen This is the next Woz&Jobs
I've ordered a Leap Motion and tested it an hour ago. I have to say, it's quite dissappointing. It becomes quite warm and the computer also uses 20-50% cpu. On top of that, it's not accurate at all. It's reasonable at detecting single fingers. The orientation of the hand is way off.
Perhaps it'll improve, but right now, it's not usable as anything but a gimmick.
Maybe there is something revolutionary about this device - I don't know. But, watching the video, I kept thinking "that's actually more awkward than doing the same thing on my Mac's trackpad (or, in a couple cases, on an iPad's screen)". And while flying the jet racer in the game, the hand motions required looked more awkward than using a standard game controller.
I'm sure the underlying tech is really cool; but I didn't see anything it did that was better than what's already out there.
#DeleteChrome
I've played a few Leap games and it just doesn't work at all. They were just totally unplayable. In one case the game was designed specifically for Leap and the other was using the Leap as a mouse/touch replacement. In both cases the game constantly freaked out when Leap couldn't figure out where your hands were, or started tracking some random thing like your watch or a sleeve, etc. I had to keep removing my hands from the view area to 'reset' the game. This happened consistently throughout the game. After awhile I just gave up in frustration.
Kinect (both 1 and 2 which are each based on completely different tech) is a FAR SUPERIOR tracking solution--but it's much larger and expensive.
It's funny to see this company get all this hype for a device that essentially doesn't work.
ralphbarbagallo.com
I'm still waiting for the direct-to-brain interface controller so I can just sit back in my chair and think about what I want the computer to do - oh, wait, I already do that! Except the part of the computer doing it directly... :-)
They have controllers that would work for a UI like in Minority Report.
In other words, if you have an immersive environment, with wall-sized monitors on three sides of you, and you need to navigate through a three-dimensional space, this control scheme would rock the socks. I would love a system like that. On a typical desktop-sized monitor, doing work in spreadsheets and IDEs, this is significantly less practical than a mouse/keyboard.
In other words, what this controller needs is a "killer app", some place it can actually be used.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
except for a few times a day. You can't hold your arm up all day like that. This lesson keeps getting learned every few years or so, going all the way back to the first light pen on the SAGE. It was called Gorilla Arm back then.
Mostly random stuff.
Looks pretty cumbersome. I have yet to see any other input device that could match my keyboard. Over 100 distinct signals, each available in a fraction of a second, and better yet you can string those signals together to make words and string them together into sophisticated commands. A good keyboard will do well in excess of 100 words per minute if you practice with it!
In comparison everything else seems slow, primitive, cumbersome. Perhaps one day this device will develop into something important, but it aint there yet.
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Friends don't let friends enable ecmascript.
Why did I read that as "Woz (& Jobs 2.0)" expecting to read a story about Woz building a Steve Jobs robot?
Those were examples - so of course they are using current applications and uses.
I'm thinking of a gesture based programming language. No, not a visual tool that generates C,Java, Python, Pascal or some other written language that is then compiled - I mean, based on gestures, it creates machine runnable code.
I was hoping for something spectacular or at least interesting when I watched the JPL video. All that happened was it fired a few thrusters remotely. That's like claiming to remotely drive a car by turning the wipers on and off.
The device is nothing else but two cellphone cameras with an USB interface and 3 infrared LEDs behind an IR filter. It tracks the infrared reflections off your fingertips (or a pencil or whatever) in 3D using stereoscopic vision. It does work, as much as that technology allows (nothing really revolutionary there), but the device and mainly its software have some serious issues:
So all in all - unless you are the type of person that wants to show off at the next Powerpoint presentation by changing slides by waving one's hands (and be a laughing stock when the device won't work or skip several slides instead), there isn't much to be excited about. It is really a solution looking for a problem.
I'd be more impressed if they open sourced it and ported it to other platforms
But we all know that wont happen
This is the next Woz&Jobs
Exactly. This will probably fade out as just another proprietary blip in the history of computing. That's what happen to most proprietary technology. Only open stays.
Fun with YouTube Doubler
I have been thinking about such possibilities for a while, but was always beyond me to do the details of an implementation. What would be of further interest is the possibilities of interactive feedback loops. Rather than just controlling an otherwise fixed pointer, have a moving object that you have to counterbalance (that unbalances in a predictable way, like a bicycle) and then use the counterbalancing as a means to send a gesture language into the computer.
John_Chalisque
reminds me of a theremin. only it controls a computer instead of making music.
So let me guess, they found something that already existed, albiet poorly marketed, and they are going to re-patent it, hope no one notices, and then market it as new, convince a bunch of yuppies and hipsters they can't live without it, and sue the fuck out of anyone who makes something remotely similar.
does it work? Not unless it's the most ideal conditions and with your hands in constrained positions, and even then, tons of interference from nearby furniture, desk lamps, pc monitors, almost anything in it's field of view. I know these guys from Ocuspec days (their first name) and the tech just isn't reliable. Moreover the use case is poorly thought out with complete disregard for human ergonomics. At best, it's a toy for kids.
By $ I mean money. And by how many I mean "how much".
Why didn't you just say that?
it doesn't work on Windows, much less Linux. I know, I know. They'll fix it in software. But that said, right now my shoulders are at rest while I type. The same is true for when I reach for my mouse. Give me one of these and now I end up moving my arms/shoulders into uncomfortable positions. Plus I lose all tactile feedback. If they want to give me a mouse w/o a mouse it might be cool. But I'm still not sold on the whole 'Minority Report' thing.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The Leap is great when it works, but the software is mostly crap at the moment. Many things didn't work in the initial release, then they pushed out an upgrade which broke most everything else.
By $ I mean money. And by how many I mean "how much".
Why didn't you just say that?
He did. Quite explicitly.
When an input device is as reliable as a keyboard / mouse, it will be an interesting alternative. But not until then.