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geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: vatin on Sun, 03 June 2012, 10:08:48

Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: vatin on Sun, 03 June 2012, 10:08:48: Hi all, first post here :-)

I happened to stumble upon an upcoming Kinect-like pointing device called "Leap", going for 70 dollars each. (http://www.leapmotion.com/)
It is claimed to be as sensitive as 1/100th of a millimeter for motion detection. Can't wait to get one of these and mount it over the key well of my Kinesis Advantage (pending delivered). That would be awesomely ergonomic!!!

[video=youtube;_d6KuiuteIA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d6KuiuteIA[/video]
Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: dorkvader on Mon, 04 June 2012, 09:53:52: Wow, preorder for $70: That's not bad at all. Bit too much for me, though.

Also: Welcome to geekhack!
Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: FoxWolf1 on Mon, 04 June 2012, 10:08:00: That looks quite nifty, actually. And no moving parts or physical contact ought to be good for the longevity of the thing, too.

I'd need more information about the system requirements before I bought one, since even my newer computer is starting to get on the older side now, but if it turned out to be compatible, I'd certainly consider it.
Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: SmallFry on Mon, 04 June 2012, 14:38:43: Not bad! That looks pretty cool, though I'd probably wait to buy one due to it not having any reviews to base off of.
Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Internetlad on Mon, 04 June 2012, 18:23:41: Another cool device that will have moderate use in cool projects, but will ultimately fail to find it's true potential, I suspect.

Being unchained from any specific companies iron claw does provide a specific advantage. Hopefully it makes some cool stuff.

Not for me though.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Findecanor on Wed, 19 September 2012, 17:06:20: An article "Leap Motion hands on": www.theverge.com/2012/6/26/3118592/leap-motion-gesture-controls
With video:
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: The_Beast on Wed, 19 September 2012, 17:14:33: I've seen a couple videos of it. They were planing HL2 without install any special software to make it work (other than the drivers for the leap motion that is)
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: damorgue on Wed, 19 September 2012, 17:19:01: Looks a bit too good to be true. Initial videos of wii, kinect and similar were all pretty hyped up about accuracy and features. If it indeed works as good as intende, then holy crap. Until I or someone I trust have tested it, I have to assume that Occam's razor applies. It is just hype.

Sorry to be a downer.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: hasu on Wed, 09 January 2013, 09:23:20: I preordered one and registered myself as developer to get access to its SDK in last November.
And a few days ago, I received a mail offering a device for development from them. Now I'm about to start reading SDK docs. Looking forward it to appearing on my doorstep before too long.

Anybody here already got the device or that mail from them?
And what are your plan of application on LeapMotion?
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: TheQsanity on Wed, 09 January 2013, 21:24:40: I heard about this. It supposedly pretty good. I didn't know it would be priced so nicely. I might have to get one. I think it will be more fun than the Kinect at parties.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: hasu on Tue, 05 February 2013, 06:19:39: Got a dev unit today! I'll look into its samples and documents.
(http://i.imgur.com/mn8Kmzil.jpg)
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Shadovved on Tue, 05 February 2013, 06:23:19: Please tell us how its like! :D
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: TheQsanity on Tue, 05 February 2013, 18:32:32: Yes! I will order one all depending on you!!!

Please do let us know!!
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: FoxWolf1 on Tue, 05 February 2013, 19:17:01: Quote from: Shadovved on Tue, 05 February 2013, 06:23:19
Please tell us how its like! :D

+1!
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: sordna on Tue, 05 February 2013, 19:54:51: Quote from: damorgue on Wed, 19 September 2012, 17:19:01
Looks a bit too good to be true. Initial videos of wii, kinect and similar were all pretty hyped up about accuracy and features. If it indeed works as good as intende, then holy crap. Until I or someone I trust have tested it, I have to assume that Occam's razor applies. It is just hype.

Sorry to be a downer.

Yup, here's a hands-on review which points out several problems:
http://9to5mac.com/2013/01/25/first-hands-on-with-the-leap-motion-developer-edition-the-69-gesture-controller-for-mac-and-pcs/

however it's a very promising technology. Can't wait to see it on BestBuy!
There's something else similar too:
http://www.omekinteractive.com/products/grasp/
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: damorgue on Wed, 06 February 2013, 09:23:46: The only new cool tech which actually seems to work as intended is the Occulus Rift. I can't imagine it not living up to its hype because of all the large names backing it who have confirmed how great it works.

I say that with some restraint, as I have found that none of these things ever work as great as advertised during the hype-up phase.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: dimamantra on Tue, 05 March 2013, 22:58:25: The girl who I work with's boyfriend is one of the main hardware engineers working at this company. Their office is a pretty cool basement office in a building in SF.

I personally cannot wait for this device to come out as I think it will shake some things up in the industry.
Title: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: aggiejy on Wed, 06 March 2013, 01:55:09: I got one of the earlier dev preview units back in November or so and made a quick proof of concept mouse driver for OSX. Very neat, and worked better than expected. They recently sent me the latest dev version, but I haven't played with it yet. It's not perfect tech, but for the price I expect lots of fun apps to drive sales.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: tp4tissue on Wed, 06 March 2013, 20:11:00: Not excited... Too lazy to even lift my wrist, now they want me to lift my WHOLE ARM... madnesss...... :D
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: daerid on Thu, 07 March 2013, 13:51:18: Totally forgot I pre-ordered one of these, just got an email today regarding it.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: sordna on Sat, 30 March 2013, 12:25:44: Anyone that got it care to provide impressions? Also can it work as a mouse replacement on linux?
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: tricheboars on Sun, 31 March 2013, 18:07:55: Quote from: hasu on Tue, 05 February 2013, 06:19:39
Got a dev unit today! I'll look into its samples and documents.
Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/mn8Kmzil.jpg)

hasu please respond!
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: emusan on Sun, 31 March 2013, 18:27:42: Quote from: sordna on Sat, 30 March 2013, 12:25:44
Also can it work as a mouse replacement on linux?

Going to be working on that this week! :D Hopefully should have it done in a few days, though not entirely sure...
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: dimamantra on Sun, 31 March 2013, 19:09:05: Quote from: emusan on Sun, 31 March 2013, 18:27:42
Quote from: sordna on Sat, 30 March 2013, 12:25:44
Also can it work as a mouse replacement on linux?

Going to be working on that this week! :D Hopefully should have it done in a few days, though not entirely sure...

Emusan, are you an employee at this company or a third party dev?
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Hak Foo on Sun, 31 March 2013, 19:11:59: I'm primarily interested in "touch without the touchscreen"... so we can still have our nice monitors even in a Windows 8 world.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: aggiejy on Sun, 31 March 2013, 20:03:38: As mentioned before, I've had a few different models and have done some development work with them. I guess the overall opinion is that they are "neat", but I haven't really seen any killer use for them other than demo type stuff. Of course, that may come with additional 3rd party apps in their app store (Airspace). The tracking is pretty good, but can get a little jumpy depending on your lighting conditions and computer power. (Though, seems to be better in the latest model.)

Sordna - As for a mouse driver, I wrote one for OS X. The last time I looked there were no built in mouse drivers with the product, mainly because they don't intend for it to be used that way. It doesn't make a great mouse either, which is probably why. In my case, I used the appearance of a second finger to serve as click. (In practice, on a second hand) In this way, you can steer the cursor with your right index finger and click by momentarily pointing your left out. Or, hold your left out to drag/etc. It's workable, but I doubt it'll replace a mouse/trackpad/ball for anyone soon. (Though, the accessibility potential could be really good for those with physical problems.)

I imagine simple games and/or 3d interaction will be the primary uses, but who knows! A neat device at a low price and open SDK, you never know what will happen.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: emusan on Mon, 01 April 2013, 09:54:39: Quote from: dimamantra on Sun, 31 March 2013, 19:09:05
Emusan, are you an employee at this company or a third party dev?

Third party :)
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: berserkfan on Fri, 05 April 2013, 15:45:36: I strongly agree.

As a trackball fan for over 15 years, I hate moving my hand off the table. I hardly ever move my arm when using the mouse, since of course a trackball allows you not to.

Now I must lift my entire arm?

It works for a few minutes. It doesn't work for the entire day! These guys totally forgot that pointing devices have to be ergonomic!

Quote from: tp4tissue on Wed, 06 March 2013, 20:11:00
Not excited... Too lazy to even lift my wrist, now they want me to lift my WHOLE ARM... madnesss...... :D
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Internetlad on Fri, 05 April 2013, 15:51:17: is there voice control for this? A cool project would be a rPi media center with this as the "remote"
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: ImperfectLink on Thu, 27 June 2013, 21:25:05: Got my preorder confirmation woo!
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: ASETNIOP on Sat, 13 July 2013, 09:46:03: Please keep an eye out for the virtual keyboard I designed for this thing - it's called DexType and I'm releasing it as a Chrome extension (probably via the Chrome store, but hopefully through Airspace too).
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: TimIsABat on Sun, 14 July 2013, 14:31:57: Looks really cool. This would probably work well with a standing desk. I was wondering how shooting games would work with this.

Great for some cool projects and wanting to feel like Tony Stark lol. This would be amazing to have in a classroom when I become certified to teach. Will totally invest if it works better than a Kinect.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: mikelanding on Sat, 20 July 2013, 02:56:03: Just got my Pre-order Leap motion unit! :)
But cant download the driver yet. Need to wait for 22 July
https://www.leapmotion.com/setup
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: islisis on Wed, 19 February 2014, 08:43:40: has no one experimented with using a leap to detect one handed presence at the keyboard? seems like this might be ideal for activating layers when the other hand is using the mouse, doing other things etc(^^)
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: islisis on Tue, 29 April 2014, 20:51:13: perhaps mounting it upside down from maybe the monitor would allow the gestures to be read more easily

it would be interesting to replicate some features like this IR keyboard
http://www.cnet.com.au/microsoft-keyboard-prototype-integrates-gesture-control-339347151.htm

you can also notice the demotion of 'mechanical' in the end of video summary to 'anything that moves' ^^;
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Pacifist on Tue, 29 April 2014, 20:53:18: holy necro
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Coreda on Wed, 30 April 2014, 02:04:04: Quote from: Pacifist on Tue, 29 April 2014, 20:53:18
holy necro

You call that a ~~neco~~ necro lol, I've seen bumps from 2008 before.

This reminds me that someone I know pre-ordered these but never received one. Should ask them about it.

Edit: meow
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: CaptCarrot on Mon, 26 May 2014, 13:09:04: I saw one of these in Maplin not too long ago.

Reminded me of the Nintendo U-Force
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: James35 on Mon, 26 May 2014, 14:28:16: Leap Motion's web site could not be more full of "fluff" if they tried. The demonstration videos do absolutely nothing for me. No technical information. No compatibility info. No holding the camera still enough to let us see the lag to it. No explanation of how you would click (right or left mouse click), etc. Frustrating web site for me. Feels like they hired the makers of the Kit Kat commercial. Hehe.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Lanx on Fri, 13 June 2014, 03:25:07: looks like this thing is **** without proper software/apps

https://airspace.leapmotion.com/categories/computer-controls

so you gotta buy this pc kinect only for it to sit there and do **** until you buy an app for it? for ****ty games and controlling google earth?

i think i'll try it soo, tho, it seems like you really gotta raise it far high to be usable.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: Quardah on Tue, 17 June 2014, 09:19:42: Quote from: Lanx on Fri, 13 June 2014, 03:25:07
looks like this thing is **** without proper software/apps

https://airspace.leapmotion.com/categories/computer-controls

so you gotta buy this pc kinect only for it to sit there and do **** until you buy an app for it? for ****ty games and controlling google earth?

i think i'll try it soo, tho, it seems like you really gotta raise it far high to be usable.

I've had mine for a while now. I paid for games (yea, bought three games) and so far it's been a pleasure using it. Can't use it for very long tough, since it totally kills your arms. All in all i paid about 90$CAD for this device and all the software i downloaded, and i've used it maybe 40 hours myself and many people tried my device. All in all so far since the games are good but are not addicting, and the free software is pretty nice.

There's a gun game which you're a gangster holding a desert eagle in some Chinatown which is fairly well made, really reminds me of TIME CRYSIS from orignial arcades. It shoots alone when you aim properly, kinda dumbed down, but still very funny. Once you get the shotgun you really ****s **** up, gets the ADRENALINE GOING.

My sister's kids love the device. There's this ball game which is like a three dimensionnal brick breaker. Really nice, game is fully packed with levels and the responsivness is 95% accurate. Plus the powerups really makes the game nice (laser finger is awesome), and since it can be played with two hands, means it also works with two players!

There's some software aswell but like said above, not true potential is being exploited here. There should be a music software using the hand motion like a classic music director. Would be nice. The mouse emulation is flawed on windows so far but i've heard under OsX and Linux it's better implemented.

Anyway... Worth it? Yes. Just because it's some really well advanced piece of technology that those i showed seemed to appreciate (you know, fits plug & play with the iPad era) and that the developpment on airsapce is slowly advancing forward. It's not fully deployed yet but it's really promising, because this device will only get better and as far as i am concerned, i will not have to buy another one, just download the new software. Also, there's no competition, and the sales aren't so bad (not bankrupt in a whole year).

Last thing, it's not really a kinect device, it's totally different. Kinect is a camera, this is an magnetic wave sensor. Works totally different, and delivers a totally different experience.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: twiddle on Wed, 02 July 2014, 04:47:30: For what it's worth, it comes with Unity support, and I have written and contributed a functional plugin that allows use of the LEAP with Unreal 4 (visible on Epic's github page).
There's a couple of issues with the rig that you can see here, but the black lines represent sensor data being picked up, and you can see it's pretty robust these days:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4692574/Leap_UE4_Integration_WIP.wmv (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4692574/Leap_UE4_Integration_WIP.wmv)
From a designer's perspective being able to drive the character's hand with this and allow the player to pick up or otherwise interact with objects in game is a nice value-add, rather than a core gameplay feature, especially when combined with something like Oculus support. I don't think that the Leap will replace a mouse any time soon, but with a number of laptops shipping with sensors pre-installed, it is something nice to experiment with.
Title: Re: Leap Motion - a Kinect like pointing device
Post by: pandather on Sat, 26 July 2014, 20:16:39: I got to try a demo at UT of Austin where they had it hooked up to an AR Drone and you could fly around the room by raising your hands and such and it was so f*cking cool.