Impressive New Tech!!! Next gen controllers???
- Thread starter pc999
- Start date
New. And interesting. It is optical, so the methods should be adaptable to a larger play area, whatever those methods are.
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And the finger movments can be pretty small and precise. I can see this being very useful for almost anything that uses a mouse and a keyboard today. For example, right now i am typing on my keyboard with both hands, if i want to move the mouse to....1...... then i have to move my hand to the mouse and move the pointer. If leap was connect with the keyboard and "knew" when i wasn't typing anymore i could just lift my finger and move the pointer with that instead.
Same with the Controllers, if leap could be integrated into controllers on consoles you could have a virtual "touch" interface.
i am getting one
I question whether users would be that accurate to instantly point where they want. I expect you'd point, find where the cursor is, and make adjustments. Mice are very good in their stability. I have a Wacom mouse+stylus, and for fine, pixel level work, I use the mouse because it is stable and I can move it exactly a few pixels left or down, whereas the stylus will be kinda across or downish. Without a stable anchor to hand, I expect pointing and motions to be moderately approximate. Exactly like on existing motion interfaces, only without a controller.
It also isn't as flexible as I was hopping. It won't work as an interactive surface; only a spacial volume where the Leap has a clear view. I'm guess that's a conical projection too, unless they have cameras at odd angles within. I do love the idea of depth though at a hand-level interface without a need for controllers. It's a very sweet midpoint between Kinect's controllerless tracking, Move's accuracy, and iPad's multitouch surface. I'd like to see it do 3D scanning like Kinect - that'd hold promise.
Personally I'd wait for software to actually use it before buying. I hope it gets suitable Linux drivers so a Raspberry Pi can use it. That could make for a tiny portable spacial-interface computer.
So many activitys that use our arms for a long and long hours, music, handywork, sports..., this cant be more tiring.
Really, people should start to use their body again, it can have great benefficts, more than health ones.
Looks great as a supplemental device used in conjunction with a keyboard and a mouse. But as an alternative to the KB+M, it comes off as a bunch of wasted movement thats not ergonomically efficient.
It doesn't help that LEAP is demonstrated in a way that most people won't be comfortable doing for long periods of time. Trying typing on your keyboard and mouse without resting your forearms or elbows on your desk and see how long you can comfortable work at your computer before you feel muscle stress and fatigue.
It doesn't help that LEAP is demonstrated in a way that most people won't be comfortable doing for long periods of time. Trying typing on your keyboard and mouse without resting your forearms or elbows on your desk and see how long you can comfortable work at your computer before you feel muscle stress and fatigue.
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it's the primary reason light pens were never successful in the UI space.
Im pretty sure that's only to showcase it's accuracy and multifinger tracking. Typing in mid air is a stupid idea and I'm sure the Leap developers aren't that clueless.
Light-pens have the hand at an awkward position. Just bending the wrist up that way and moving, it's completely wrong ergonomically. Shift the light pen to a stylus on a touch screen held more horizontally and people can use it all day long, and not because the entire weight of the arm is resting on the stylus nib.
Leap is more like a magician, or someone stacking shelves in a supermarket, or a casino croupier, all who use their arms and hands all day long and don't pass out. Our arms aren't so atrophied that we are incapable of supporting their weight for any length of time. Even while typing on a keyboard, my arms aren't supported at all. As long as I can move them around, I can keep active all day long.
As an additional tech to computers, this is everything Kinect is being celebrated for. 3 dimensional interaction is a very good addition. Being able to reach into the workspace and select or interact with elements is definitely going to be a productivity improver. Something like having a KB+M for fine control, but then being able to select and access elements with the hands freely, like reaching behind the open window to slect the window behind. Or, for the 3D modellers who this was invented for, select the object behind. Then grab and spin the world-view. Then get you mouse and select a specific vertex for changing. Then select a brush tool and draw with your hand freely on the virtual model in the Leap space. For close work like that's, I'm not seeing an equal. In the console space though, though not seeing a use really. It feels to me about close-quarters interaction, designed for the space just in front of the user, and thus wanting a close proximity with the visual feedback. The idea of virtually modelling an object a foot in front of me that's visible 6 feet away seems a little too detached. Maybe it'd feel fine after a little experience, but I'd rather the display was close so I could use my hands close to it.