Think about it. A tiny USB powered box that could detect your movements like Microsoft’s Kinect, But instead of tracking your throwing motions, or interpreting your jerky, manic dance moves it watched your hands and fingers. What if it was sensitive enough to track a a pencil tip tracing letters in 1cm of space. Amazingly enough, this device is available for pre-order right now, and it’s called the Leap.
The Leapmotion team behind the box (and of course its clever software backend) claim that the Leap is “200 times more accurate” than any rival and “can distinguish your individual fingers and track your movements down to a 1/100th of a millimeter.”
While it sounds fantastic, and the above video is certainly impressive, the information so far is vague, and the FAQs on the Leapmotion website is full of fuzzy, glossy explanations.
Cult of Mac goes on to say that Redditor Clubdirthill has suggested that it looks like a time-of-flight camera, a technology that can image a 3-D space by measuring the time it takes light to arrive from each point of the image. Wikipedia says that, these cameras have a resolution of 1cm, which appears to be much lower than that shown in the demo. COM suggests this could be an evolution on that technology though, and thus might be able t0 avoid patents owned on it.
If this $70 box works as advertised, it could be a revolutionary device. Games would be a whole new experience, and the desktop could deliver a touch screen experience without the expensive touch screen.
Pre-orders are available,, I’m tempted to fork over my hard earned dinero for a hands first look at this. Cult of Mac says this device makes Microsoft’s Kinect look like a drunken uncle. Well, I’ve got a Kinect, and I had a drunken uncle, (rest in peace Uncle Rusty,) so I just may be uniquely qualified to review this device. We’ll keep you posted.
The Leapmotion website is running slow right now, especially the order page.
