Proper motion control technology (e.g. Minority Report) is finally here.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

 

Holy science-reality, Batman.

 

Leap Motion's not the household name Kinect is, but it should be — the company's motion-tracking system is more powerful, more accurate, smaller, cheaper, and just more impressive.

 

Leap's device tracks all movement inside its force field, and is remarkably accurate, down to 0.01mm. It tracks your fingers individually, and knows the difference between your fingers and the pencil you're holding between two of them.

 

Developers that do take advantage of the Leap's SDK will be able to do much more, however, and the possibilities appear to be limited only by your imagination. All kinds of different apps are being developed: some could improving remote surgery, others allow easier navigation through complex models and data, and others might put you square in the middle of a first-person shooter. It's like holding the Mario Kart steering wheel, but on a whole new level.

 

The natural comparison to any motion control is Minority Report, an imagined future everyone seems to desperately want to come true. We asked Holz about the comparison, and if Leap Motion's technology meant we'd all have Tom Cruise's awesome PreCrime dashboard in the future.

 

"No," he told us. "It'll be even better."

 

December this year.

 

$70

 

Oh hell yes.

[LDR]

Awesome.

[Taak Farst]

Oh. My. God. Mind = Blown! That looks amazing!

[Lynk Former]

I've had their site bookmarked for quite some time... the only problem I see is people actually using it in an every day scenario.

[Sabretooth]

I saw a video of them using it to play Half-Life 2 a while back, lemme go look for it...

 

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Half-Life 2 at 00:38.

[Trench]

ALL MY WANT.

[Lynk Former]

Now imagine if Leap was simply attached to the front of your current mouse... all you'd need to do to access the motion controls would be to extend your fingers out a little bit. Add in a "safety switch" on the side of the mouse you hold down with a thumb or toggle it on and off so you don't set off the motion controls accidentally.

 

EDIT: Or one attached to your screen that is calibrated to the exact specifications of your screen size, resolution and dpi... great touch screen alternative and would have killer accuracy, could be a hell of an alternative for digital ink pens and tablets such as the kind Wacom make... of course, I'm thinking of this with the screen having a special stand that allows it to be laid flat and tilted to be comfortably used for drawing and such.

[Sabretooth]

Microsoft sees your leaping and raises you... DIGITS.

 

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[Lynk Former]

Wow.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

Microsoft sees your leaping and raises you... DIGITS.

 

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This guy in India made a similar device a few years back.

 

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I don't know what's happening with that or why the hell everyone isn't having those devices right now.

 

My guess is that since he made the thing open source, all the commercial sponsors ceased backing it or something.

[thejman217]

This guy in India made a similar device a few years back.

 

I don't know what's happening with that or why the hell everyone isn't having those devices right now.

 

My guess is that since he made the thing open source, all the commercial sponsors ceased backing it or something.

 

No, that wouldn't happen.

 

What would happen is: Apple gets their sleazy hands on it, buys it, then sues everyone else for even attempting to use it.

[Lynk Former]

I remember many years back, the people who originally created what we now know as Microsoft Pixelsense (which was previously called Microsoft Surface before the tablet took over the name) was developed by some really small obscure company that no one had even heard of. Then soon after it was shown on this technology show, Microsoft bought out the company and... yeah.

 

So the scenario of a big company buying them out is pretty plausable and they're either just silently developing it or sitting on the patents.

[thejman217]

I remember many years back, the people who originally created what we now know as Microsoft Pixelsense (which was previously called Microsoft Surface before the tablet took over the name) was developed by some really small obscure company that no one had even heard of. Then soon after it was shown on this technology show, Microsoft bought out the company and... yeah.

 

So the scenario of a big company buying them out is pretty plausable and they're either just silently developing it or sitting on the patents.

 

Yeah, I hope Apple doesn't buy and/or sue everyone to try and get customers. There's already enough of the big percentage of the population worldwide that is an Apple customer.

 

I would say about 3/4 of Apple customers only have an Apple device because it's "popular".

 

If no one rises against Apple, they will eventually take over tablets, phones, and computers. They'll basically become our economy. If they go down we go down.

 

Well, it's not like it isn't like that right now.

 

EDIT

I apologize if I have offended an Apple customer on this forum.

[Tommycat]

Now imagine if Leap was simply attached to the front of your current mouse... all you'd need to do to access the motion controls would be to extend your fingers out a little bit. Add in a "safety switch" on the side of the mouse you hold down with a thumb or toggle it on and off so you don't set off the motion controls accidentally.

 

EDIT: Or one attached to your screen that is calibrated to the exact specifications of your screen size, resolution and dpi... great touch screen alternative and would have killer accuracy, could be a hell of an alternative for digital ink pens and tablets such as the kind Wacom make... of course, I'm thinking of this with the screen having a special stand that allows it to be laid flat and tilted to be comfortably used for drawing and such.

 

You could calibrate it to the table. This could easily be done. But you kinda lose the whole point of the touchless touch screen. It accepts 3 dimensional input which would allow for designing something in a 3 dimensional space closer to the way Jarvis worked in Iron Man.

 

Thinking of it... it would work really well for VR applications, and possibly even lead to better VR designs.

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

No, that wouldn't happen.

 

What would happen is: Apple gets their sleazy hands on it, buys it, then sues everyone else for even attempting to use it.

 

Given that the hardware specifications and software code for the device are freely available here and here, I'd say what you proposed is highly unlikely to have happened.

 

If no one rises against Apple, they will eventually take over tablets, phones, and computers. They'll basically become our economy. If they go down we go down.

 

Without Jobs' tyrannical leadership and marketing skills, I doubt Apple will stay on top for much longer. Also, Samsung is doing a pretty good job of 'rising up' against them.

 

I would say about 3/4 of Apple customers only have an Apple device because it's "popular".

Agree.

[Lynk Former]

You could calibrate it to the table. This could easily be done. But you kinda lose the whole point of the touchless touch screen. It accepts 3 dimensional input which would allow for designing something in a 3 dimensional space closer to the way Jarvis worked in Iron Man.

 

Thinking of it... it would work really well for VR applications, and possibly even lead to better VR designs.

Only the range of the input is limited to just above where the device can look, that's the issue in terms of 3d controls. You wouldn't get the whole Iron Man thing with it since Tony Stark moved around everywhere with his hands.

 

 

What I was thinking was to allow the touchless touch AND touch at the same time since it is tied to a specific area to begin with, you could calibrate the device to another device to allow for 1:1 precision touch on-screen while still having the depth there as well.

 

 

@ jigos: If you mean "rising up" by losing the patent trial against apple and having to pay apple 1.5billion in damages... then yeah... x.x rising

[JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan]

 

@ jigos: If you mean "rising up" by losing the patent trial against apple and having to pay apple 1.5billion in damages... then yeah... x.x rising

 

I'm pretty sure Samsung won a couple of those battles in their war.

 

And besides, Apple only won that trial because the US higher-ups decided they needed the money from the iPhone 5 release.

 

/tinfoilhat

 

[Lynk Former]

I'm pretty sure Samsung won a couple of those battles in their war.

 

And besides, Apple only won that trial because the US higher-ups decided they needed the money from the iPhone 5 release.

 

/tinfoilhat

 

They didn't, they were dismissed. The only silver-lining they had was that the injunction against them in Japan was dismissed and the German ban was overturned after Samsung made a German specific version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1... which isn't a win at all.

[thejman217]

@ jigos: If you mean "rising up" by losing the patent trial against apple and having to pay apple 1.5billion in damages... then yeah... x.x rising

 

Well, Samsung are doing a nice job right now selling many copies of the Samsung Galaxy S3. I'm getting one myself.

 

@JIGOS How much longer do you think they'll stay on top?

[Lynk Former]

Well, Samsung are doing a nice job right now selling many copies of the Samsung Galaxy S3. I'm getting one myself.

They are, I have a Galaxy S II, though I'm sticking with it... might upgrade when the IV comes out .

 

As for any thought of Apple's supposed downfall... don't hold your breath.

[Sabretooth]

As for any thought of Apple's supposed downfall... don't hold your breath.

 

[thejman217]

 

I hope so! But I hope this doesn't happen in a parallel universe:

 

 

EDIT

Well, I just got the Samsung Galaxy SIII today, and let me tell you, it is the most amazing phone I've ever seen and used. Definitely the best phone on the market right now. (:

[Darth Avlectus]

*cough*

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2012/08/24/jury-has-reached-verdict-in-apple-samsung-patent-suit-court-to-announce-it-shortly/

[thejman217]

*cough*

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2012/08/24/jury-has-reached-verdict-in-apple-samsung-patent-suit-court-to-announce-it-shortly/

 

What's your point? Are you an Apple fanboy?

 

Just because they won a lawsuit because of some possibly biased judges and/or jury doesn't mean that their phones are better.

 

And Samsung was sort of right. If Apple becomes bigger than they are now, it could eventually result in the takover of all phones everywhere. ONLY Apple iPhones and that is the only selection of a phone. No individuality. No variance. Everyone is the same. No gold ol' Nokia or Motorola Razor or Blackberry users. Imagine that. You have to agree with Samsung just a little.

 

After all, it could end up like the meme I posted above. Do you want that?

[Lynk Former]

What's your point? Are you an Apple fanboy?

 

Just because they won a lawsuit because of some possibly biased judges and/or jury doesn't mean that their phones are better.

 

And Samsung was sort of right. If Apple becomes bigger than they are now, it could eventually result in the takover of all phones everywhere. ONLY Apple iPhones and that is the only selection of a phone. No individuality. No variance. Everyone is the same. No gold ol' Nokia or Motorola Razor or Blackberry users. Imagine that. You have to agree with Samsung just a little.

 

After all, it could end up like the meme I posted above. Do you want that?

Oh boy. Okay I'm gonna get all admin here if things start to degenerate down that part where people start calling each other this or that fanboys. We're already derailing the original topic.

 

He didn't say one way or the other what he supported, he gave NO indication at all and you simply accused him just like that. He was just simply pointing out that Apple won a major court battle against Samsung, one that has been going on for quite awhile.

 

Samsung is in the right because Apple is accusing everyone of copying their "trade dress"... the "look and feel" of their devices. Basically, Apple thinks that just because their phone is a black rectangle with rounded corners, no one can have anything that's anywhere close to what they make. And anything with icons on a grid? Nope, can't do that either according to apple, or even specific styles of icons, can't do anything unless they approve apparently.

 

They're abusing the hell of what is a very broken patent system and that is why these two companies aren't the only ones involved in this larger "patent war"... though really the whole patent war mostly relates to "mobile devices" at this point.

 

While there's a lot of good reasons not to like Apple, they earned their market share due to their marketing. The monster that's been created is due to this patent system which is allowing them to lug around all of that power they've amassed now and basically bitch and moan about every patent, even things that they didn't even create or they really have no right to because it's so basic/generic and claim it as their own.

 

Companies can get as big as they want, what the real concern is is the patent system stifling and destroying great ideas... which is the exact opposite of what the patent system was designed to do.