
Leap Motion: Orion [video] - tiagobraw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnlCGw-0R8g
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thenomad
I've just been testing this out.

It works.

Not perfectly, for me, so far - it's a little wobbly, and I heartily recommend
clearing your desk before beginning. With a headset-mounted Leap the close
distance isn't particularly close, and it DOES work fine at arm's length.
Unless what's sitting at arm's length is an expensive condenser mic, in which
case you will a) fail to grab the block you're reaching for and b) punch your
microphone.

Also, calibration is about as much fun as it is with most optical devices. For
anyone who has never had that particular joy - it's not much fun. Tip if
you're doing this - _rotate_ the Leap, don't just move it around. Also, I had
to iterate through about three allegedly reflective surfaces to get one that
worked - ironically enough I ended up using the screen of my Surface Pro.

But it's orders of magnitude better than the last time I tried the Leap, and I
suspect with a darker room it'd work even better. No latency I could feel, and
I could throw blocks around and build towers in VR fine.

Very impressed indeed.

This evening I'm going to give it another go once the irritatingly persistent
IR emitter in the sky goes away, and I'll also be trying their Warlock Battle
game, which looks like lots of fun...

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hobo_mark
Is this "just" new software compatible with current devices or new hardware
altogether?

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thenomad
I've got an original Leap and it worked fine for me.

It makes reference to needing a mount for the VR attachment, but elsewhere on
their site they teach you how to DIY the mount with duct tape :)

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mchahn
> I've got an original Leap and it worked fine for me.

Interesting. What did you use it for? I got one and couldn't find a single
useful application.

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thenomad
Sorry, poor contextual phrasing.

I have an original Leap. When I tested it with the new software they've just
released, it still worked fine. The new software doesn't require new Leap
hardware, and will work with the original hardware.

As for what I used it for when I got it - I bought it for motion capture. It
wasn't good enough. The new "Orion" software, on the other hand, might be.

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adamwong246
While it's very neat to see these Johnny-Mnemonic style demos, what I'd really
like is a realistic replacement for Apple's Magic Trackpad. I'd buy one if it
were able to replace my trackpad on an ordinary desktop environment. I don't
need to manipulate cubes in 3d space (who does?!) outside of video games. But
I'd love to replace my flat trackpad with a skeletal gesture motion-tracker
for more mundane tasks.

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zminjie
May I ask what exactly are you looking for in the replacement?

We are actually building a wearable that gives you full hand tracking without
the need for line of sight. It's intended for AR/VR applications since it's
just as precise as vision based products without all the downsides. But one
thing that's personally important to me that we are incorporating into the
product is the ability to turn any surface I touch into a trackpad. It
basically gives me a portable trackpad anywhere I go and I can sit 10 feet
away from my computer and use my leg or arms of the chair to control my
computer. I'm curious what kind of usages you need from a product like this.

~~~
adamwong246
Well, I don't want to turn arbitrary surfaces into trackpads. I'd just like to
be able to perform hand gestures _in the air, above my keyboard._ I don't need
to perform them from across the room or anything like that. So that, to me, is
the MVP- simply replacing my trackpad for gestures like pointing, clicking,
dragging, zooming in MacOS.

But beyond that...

1\. I don't want to wear anything on my hands.

2\. I'd like to be able to program new gestures easily. Sort of like American
sign language, I want to easily map a gesture to an action.

3\. After replacing a trackpad, I'd want to be able to use my hands to
manipulate a 3d environment. This requirement is pretty low on my list,
because I never do anything in 3D. But it's necessary in the long run, once 3D
applications become popular.

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freewizard
Have to say this amazed me that they are still selling a four year old device
and evolving it by upgrading software.

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killa_kyle
Glad to see they improved the software. Here's a video someone uploaded
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhBaY1UMOJs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhBaY1UMOJs)

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hugozap
I'm interested in ways devices like this could be used for everyday work,
automate some IDE task / editor macros. Subtle Gestures could add another
dimension to data input without leaving the keyboard.

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rkangel
There was a slightly worrying bit of latency visible here:

[https://youtu.be/rnlCGw-0R8g?t=32](https://youtu.be/rnlCGw-0R8g?t=32)

~~~
StavrosK
I've had a Leap motion since very early on, and it's been working very well.
Especially the software update where they upgraded to a skeletal hand model
has made many glitches go away. Both latency and accuracy have been great, so
maybe the latency there is because of the animation? I'm not quite sure, but
based on how good my experience has been with the first Leap, I doubt this one
is worse.

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killa_kyle
Here's another video: GEOMETRIC -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLEEVGxu_k8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLEEVGxu_k8)

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soylentcola
A while back (maybe a year or so) I played with the early alpha/beta support
for the whole "stick your Leap on the front of your Rift" thing. It was really
cool and seemed like something I'd expect to see in future VR headsets.

I'll have to check out this new software since it seems they've continued to
develop it.

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bossx
The tracking is an order of magnitude better, using the original device.
Impressed.

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baldfat
What is happening on the Augmented Reality technology that Leap was originally
showing?

I am much more interested in Augmented then Virtual and was hoping to see Leap
move more in that area. I haven't seen anything since July 2015.

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zacharypinter
You're probably thinking of Magic Leap, which is a completely different
company from Leap Motion.

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guelo
Well that seems like a big trademark problem.

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baldfat
Both formed in 2010. Leap Motion is also doing some Augmented Reality. Hard to
fight the over $1,300,000,000 in funding that Magic Leap has been able to
raise.

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otoburb
The demo shows intricate and precise hand and finger joint tracking, seemingly
knowing precisely how both hands are positioned in a small volume of space.
Maybe we may soon finally be able to push past the current non-vocal computer
input speed barrier imposed by physically typing on a keyboard. The spoken
word is roughly around 225wpm[1], while few can claim accurate typing speeds
of more than 150wpm for extended periods of time.

Example of smaller motor movements that can be performed are finger twitches
or trilling piano keys.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute#Stenotype](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute#Stenotype)

