

8pen + Leap Motion - olegam2
http://www.8pen.com/leap

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alexhawdon
Reminds me of Palm's 'Graffiti', both in execution and scope: it's a stop-gap
solution, possibly to a problem that no longer exists.

IMO, their three suggested use-cases are quite flimsy.

"...enable surgeons to take notes during an operation without removing their
gloves" \- They already can, it's called dictation which is subsequently
transcribed by a medical secretary whose time is far less expensive.

"check recipes while cooking without spilling flour on the keyboard" \-
touchless navigation of a pre-chosen recipe, maybe. Actually stopping cooking
to search for a recipe/technique that you're unsure about? I would rather
quickly wash my hands and use a more traditional input method to find what I
want.

"search for TV programs without leaving their couch" \- Given the range of the
Leap device this really doesn't make sense - are they envisaging a wireless
version you take with you to the couch/coffee table. Some sort of device that
can 'remotely control' your television...

I still think Leap Motion is great technology, but still missing a decent
application.

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djkz
I believe the best application for this will be virtual reality headsets -
such as Oculus Rift, where you can have virtual screens but having a keyboard
would not be practical.

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lnanek2
Seems pretty lousy. No one wants to hold their arm up in the air tracing out
full letters of each word like that. It will get tired.

They don't even let the demo guy keep his elbow on the table, something you
should generally do for any gesture input mechanism you are writing that takes
a while, even if it means they will just be using a short arc of space.

There are great uses for gesture tracking techniques. Heck, countless people
love the various games out there that use motion control, and there's even
more industrial use for 3D stuff and posing characters. This is not a great
use.

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robertfw
When alternative text input comes up I always feel compelled to share
Dasher[1]. Dasher is designed with accessible computing in mind, and can be
driven using a wide variety of input method.

The project appears to be abandoned - so no leap support - though the leap
would be an excellent fit for the interface, minus the gorilla arm problem.

[1]
[http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/](http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/)

~~~
Zecc
I remember Dasher. It's amazing the first few times you try it. I wish I could
use it on my phone.

Edit: apparently they have an Android version now.

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JamesCRR
Macbook Wheel is much easier to use. [http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-
introduces-revolutionary...](http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-
revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/)

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Dirlewanger
This is going nowhere. It looks like there's too much overhead to get anywhere
near as proficient as the guy in the video.

Leap Motion in general is awesome technology, but it's going to remain
grounded without a practical application.

~~~
involans
I use the 8pen android keyboard. It takes a bit of time to get used to, but
not more than a couple of days. For short strings of text, the learning curve
is fine.

~~~
skore
I tried to like it. Used it for three months, I think. Never really sunk in
the way I would have liked to and clever auto-complete works a lot faster for
me these days than 8pen ever could.

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neona
8pen is neat, but i'm still not entirely convinced it can be that fast an
input method. I've started using it semi-recently (last month or so), as it
seemed better than using a touchscreen keyboard (swype is an okay solution,
but I prefer to avoid imprecise input when possible).

I'm getting faster, but it seems that I will need to dedicate a fair bit more
time to it before it will be that practical as an input method.

I really wish companies would just continue making nice phones with hard
keyboards, would make my life easier. :(

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edgeman27
I think the promotional video should show something a little more useful than
air-writing. One could have typed (or spoken) the same text in a fraction of
the time. How about drawing or painting?

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apendleton
It's a promotion for the text input technology (8pen), not the LeapMotion.

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sremani
It may very well have its applications but voice would be a better interaction
than swinging the finger in the air to get the word.

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eterpstra
Why is the guy in the video writing stuff by waving his finger around to make
cryptic symbols when there is a perfectly good keyboard only inches away!

Seriously though, I agree there are practical uses for this - such as TV input
or some sort of touchless kiosk (in a hospital maybe?). The video just did a
poor job of showing what's what.

~~~
oulipo
Or in game consoles
[http://8pen.com/joysticks#video](http://8pen.com/joysticks#video)

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andyhmltn
Your link works, but you can't play the video. Go to
[http://8pen.com/joysticks](http://8pen.com/joysticks) and press the button
instead :) Pretty bad implementation on their web developers part

~~~
oulipo
It works for me:)

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fridek
Looks significantly slower and RSI must be terrible. I would prefer to draw
shapes on flat surface with my wrists resting.

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linux_devil
I can write on keyboard , why should I wave my fingers? Need more practical
application. It's really fast .

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jaxbot
What if we embraced ASL? (random thought)

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jamesbritt
Aside from a lack of range, I doubt the Leap can handle it. From my experience
it routinely treats fingers held together as a single "pointable" instance.
There will be a good number of ASL conditions it won't recognize.

~~~
robertfw
It also cannot deal with occluded fingers, which also makes things tricky.

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oulipo
This would be a neat way to search for television programs from the couch, or
to write notes during surgery without having to remove gloves, or to search
for recipes with the hands full of flour :)

There are definitely many applications for that technology!

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koalaman
How is writing 10 wpm by waving your finger in the air a good thing?

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tjr
I type much slower on my phone than on a keyboard, but it's clearly still
useful.

I have a music recording studio set up at home. I can imagine some scenarios
where it might be easier for me to wave my hand for some brief computer
interaction than to reposition myself for regular keyboard-typing and mouse-
moving.

But, _shrug_ , in any event, I think it's neat to see LeapMotion technology
being brought to more applications. Maybe some of them will prove silly, but
at least people are trying to figure out how to use it, which is more than I
can say for myself thus far...

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kohanz
Interesting idea, but not impressed that even in the teaser video there is a
visible typo made ("Thouchless") in the single sentence.

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jaredstenquist
My wrist is throbbing after watching this video.

"Write slower than ever and guarantee RSI. All for 3 easy payments of $19.95!"

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awestley
I love cool tech as much as the next guy but that looks stupid. It takes way
too long to write anything and it looks like a lot of work.

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rabu81
Pure awesomeness!

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nailer
"This video is private."

