LEAP Motion

[Tbone]

I know some of you were interested in this as it pertains to VR (or anything, for that matter). I was not. Here I am to crush your dreams.

Tested In-Depth: Leap Motion Controller

Consensus: Pretty bad

[Manic Velocity]

It looks like the biggest hurdles are the sensitivity of the sensor, (it can't be too sensitive or too un-sensitive), and the fact that there is absolutely no physical resistance to know the optimal sensing area.  It's just way too easy to move your hands out of its range.

Some of those calibration exercises required him to hold his hands/fingers still in pretty small areas, which is difficult to do without some resistance.  I wonder if it would have been more effective if he rested his elbows on the table, but then that might limit his range of motion.

I see the potential, but yeah, I would absolutely not want to game with this.  Even the simplest tasks like opening applications seemed spotty.  Like they said, there is nothing about this that couldn't be more effective with a mouse.

[Mharz]

I have one.  Dorks that can't control there hands will be challenged.  Some of us have control and the Leap is AMAZING.

THE SINGLE BEST piece of computer hardware released this year.

If you don't have one.  You can't comment.  I rest my elbows on the desktop and I'm perfect.  Again, soft, weak (ie no strength in their hands) dorks with no coordination will suffer.  I'm not in the best of shape anymore but I have no problems using it.

Manic is right.  The problem with this device is that it is TOO GOOD.  Too sensitive.  The apps available just don't interface well with the sensor yet.

Besides, nothing can ever be as good as the rift.  Oh wait, Leap released a commercial product and had over 1 million apps downloaded in less than 2 weeks.  Yeah crush my dreams more.

Edit - Half of what they're saying in this video is just plain wrong.  I use my Leap in a room with overhead lighting, a ceiling fan and an AC vent.  I get no interference.  NONE.  My biggest problem is leaning into the device and it picking up my big head in the active zone.

I've calibrated my Leap one time.  Ever.  You don't need to recalibrate it.  These guys are totally full of shit.

Again, I sit with my elbows on the the desktop and my forearms NEVER break into the sensor.  Totally full of shit.. again.  These idiots shouldn't be allowed to make a video.  They are completely full of shit.

I suffered through to the end of the video and I don't suffer idiots well.  The guy trying to do the demo was maybe the least coordinated person I've seen in years.  He's failing his fingers all over the place like he's a lost child.

If you want to listen to these idiots (and people that agree with these idiots) that's fine but from someone who has one and uses one alot, the main problem with this device is that it's far too sensitive and the developers (software side) didn't give good thought to what makes a good interface in space.  Different apps have different interfaces and controls.  Some are great and very obvious.  Some are horrid.  That's the software, not the Leap.  Better software will come but the device itself is amazing.

If you're considering the Leap just realize that the device is years ahead of the software now and probably years ahead of the interface for your computer that was designed for a mouse.

[Tbone]

From the comments I've seen, a lot of their points are well founded.

1. Doesn't track fingers when put together or when rest of the hand blocks it.
2. Resource hog.
3. Subject to lighting conditions
4. Arms and heads make it bug out.
5. More cumbersome and tiresome to use than keyboard and mouse.
6. Software has been disappointing.

In relation to VR, it's unusable. I could see it being built into laptops to allow a touch-less touch screen, but why not just make it a touch screen at that point? A majority of people don't want to have to build up their forearm strength just to browse around on a computer.

In the end I think this will get replaced with something like the Kinect, where the hand doesn't have to hover in a specific place.

[Mharz]

From the comments I've seen, a lot of their points are well founded.

1. Doesn't track fingers when put together or when rest of the hand blocks it.
2. Resource hog.
3. Subject to lighting conditions
4. Arms and heads make it bug out.
5. More cumbersome and tiresome to use than keyboard and mouse.
6. Software has been disappointing.

In relation to VR, it's unusable. I could see it being built into laptops to allow a touch-less touch screen, but why not just make it a touch screen at that point? A majority of people don't want to have to build up their forearm strength just to browse around on a computer.

In the end I think this will get replaced with something like the Kinect, where the hand doesn't have to hover in a specific place.

So basically you believe what you read by people that used it for a few minutes and wrote BS / made a BS video and not the opinion of someone that uses it everyday.  Check.

Let me respond to your comments.

1.  Software issue.  There are plenty of points on your hand to track if you use the real dev version of the software.  Again, the device is AMAZING.  The software, so far is meh.  But good enough for over 1 million downloads in under 2 weeks.  Nice start but there's room to get better.

2.  Resource hog?  On what?  Do you have a 286 PC with 64K of ram?  I know what laptop you use, I have a very similar one (maybe with a little more RAM) but basically the same and I can assure you this just isn't the case.  Whomever claims this is just a novice computer user with a junk system.

3.  Lighting conditions are NOT an issue unless you plan to use it in total darkness or on a broadway stage.  My mancave has a variety of lighting from very low to pretty bright and unless you're working under a spotlight (which will break up the sensor loop) this is not an issue.

4.  Yes, if you put something into it's field it will track it.  Again, the software isn't mature enough to discard stray inputs.  This isn't a LEAP problem, this is, again, a software problem.  Right now you have to understand how the unit works and use it properly.  So yes, if you use it wrong you won't get good results until the software is mature enough to become more idiot proof.

5.  This is true because you've been using a keyboard and mouse for 20+ years.  If you expect to be amazing at controlling something like this after a 20 minute unpacking and test that you're doing for a lame YouTube video then yes, you'll be disappointed.  A-la the scrubs in that video you linked.

6.  Yes.  Totally agree here.  Again, the software that uses the LEAP is way behind the technically excellent product that Leap brought to market.  You can (and I did) argue that Leap should have released dev kits early on (like the rift did) so that when launch time came there would be better interfaces for the product.  If they did this, idiots like the ones in the video, and people writing shallow moronic reviews who don't understand the product wouldn't have anything to say.

7.  If you think it's not usable for VR, I'm sorry but you're dead wrong. 

Current response time for my unit is measured in single digit milli-seconds at upwards of 100 FPS.  From running the software just now I'm getting 115 fps with a 3-4 ms response. 

The conception is already there where you would have two leap fields that exist orthogonal to each other to track everything around a person.  I could explain but I doubt anyone cares and you seem  too fixed on what some idiots said than thinking for yourself or listening to someone that actually uses the product.

Touchscreens are 2D.  The Leap is 3D.  This is new.  This is challenging.  I understand why.  I wish Leap understood their market better and did more work to make their own software or allowed dev kits to be used sooner by more people.  They didn't.

Yes I understand people are in general lazy and don't want to move to do things on a computer.  Point taken.

Also, this product is FAR, FAR superior to Kinect.  Like BMW to horse and buggy superior.  You can't even really compare the two until the Kinect for PC comes out with an updated unit which promises far better performance.

Your response here is disappointing.  I expected more from you.

[NoCry]

I think it looks cool personally; although I would only have a use for it at present for link based browsing around my computer and the internet; why not - can lean back, feel like tom cruise and have fun. I think Ket and yotogi/ ash had plans for this and would wonder what their feedback was too.