Apologies for the slightly over expressive headline. I think you’ll forgive me when you watch this video from the makers of Leap, a new motion controller for your computers. I’m not entirely convinced this isn’t some odd hoax strung together with clever CGI and witchcraft.
As you can see, the discreet USB box offers amazing precision. It can differentiate between fingers and thumbs, knows a pencil from a pinky and throws up an 8 cubic feet area of motion sensing that’s claimed to be two hundred times more precise than existing motion sensors.
There are a limited number available to pre-order for just $69.99, which is bafflingly cheap compared with existing peripherals. The developers are touting multiple uses, from medical practice to OS navigation but we’re particularly interested in the possibilities for gaming.
The video shows Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, of course, but it also shows aeroplane control and precise sensing of every child’s natural “gun hand” to replicate shooting a revolver while playing the HDR demo level from Half Life 2. Imagine controlling an RTS with your fingertips, casting spells with hand gestures or slicing up bad guys with a flick of your finger.
They’re distributing free units to plenty of developers so there’s every chance that there’ll be some exciting real world application for this tech very soon. I’m sorely tempted to pre-order one myself.
Source: Leap
igotmy9milli
Looks cool but not 100% convinced it’s real.
Jakster123x
Wow, very interesting.
colmshan1990
Could be good.
Looks amazingly accurate, but that doesn’t guarantee good games I’m afraid.
stonyk
no, no and no. There is no way this will work as it is just too tiring holding your arms out for long periods of time. Whether its gaming or non gaming try holding your arms up and see how long you can do it for and that is your limit when using it……
Gadbury
Got buttons? =]
Crocadillian
The first gadget in ages that’s not just hype and flashy intro videos, and actually has me excited.
Instant pre-order :3
An-dz
Its black magic!
Sympo
Can’t wait for the oddest Japanese games to be made for this…. *cough*
SavageOranges
I’ve seen enough tentacle porn to know where this is going…
KeRaSh
I want this to control my PC from my couch when watching movies…
JesseDeya
Yes! This is the first thing I thought of as well. HTPC perfection.
Not only could you control the mouse directly, but you could customise gestures for certain things (and have them actually work, unlike Kinect).
Hoping this isn’t fake.
Not particularly interested for gaming, but then again if it’s on PC and can just be another ‘device’ it might be awesome to use for simple things in game. Head tracking in race sims and flight sims comes to mind – Like TrackIR but better.