Leap Motion’s gesture control quest continues with the Leap Motion Controller 2 – The Verge

Leap Motion, the gesture startup reportedly almost acquired by Apple, sells to UK haptics company

2019-05-30T10:44:44-04:00

Leap Motion, which made hand-tracking systems for virtual and augmented reality headsets, is reportedly being acquired by haptics company UltraHaptics. The Wall Street Journal reported the news earlier today, saying that the San Francisco-based Leap Motion had agreed to sell for around $30 million.

That's a fraction of Leap Motion's $306 million valuation at the peak of its hype in 2013. But it's similar to a figure that Apple supposedly discussed during a never-completed acquisition last year. The Journal reports that UltraHaptics will get Leap Motion's patents and hire most of its staff, with the exception of CEO and co-founder Michael Bu …

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Leap Motion designed a $100 augmented reality headset with super-powerful hand tracking

2018-04-09T06:00:01-04:00

Gesture interface company Leap Motion is announcing an ambitious, but still very early, plan for an augmented reality platform based on its hand tracking system. The system is called Project North Star, and it includes a design for a headset that Leap Motion claims costs less than $100 at large-scale production. The headset would be equipped with a Leap Motion sensor, so users could precisely manipulate objects with their hands - something the company has previously offered for desktop and VR displays.

Project North Star isn't a new consumer headset, nor will Leap Motion be selling a version to developers at this point. Instead, the company …

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Qualcomm announces new VR headset, Leap Motion partnership, and accelerator program

2017-02-23T09:46:10-05:00

Qualcomm is launching an accelerator program for VR headset manufacturers, releasing a new headset reference design, and partnering with hand tracking company Leap Motion. The company is looking to kickstart production of headsets with features not found in the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, including an all-in-one wireless design that removes the need for wires or external tracking devices. This continues a mission it first announced last year, but with updated hardware and a goal of making it easier to build off Qualcomm's work.

The virtual reality development kit, as Qualcomm calls it, is a self-contained design built on the company's Snapdrag …

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Leap Motion’s new VR physics engine is built for your hands

2016-08-24T10:03:45-04:00

If you've ever used the Leap Motion hand tracker, you'll know that it's a magical experience punctuated by moments so frustrating it makes you want to throw things - except that you can't pick them up, which is why you're frustrated in the first place. Leap Motion is well aware of this problem, and the company has just announced a beta of what it calls the Interaction Engine, which is meant to fix it.

The Interaction Engine is an add-on for the larger Unity game engine, which supports just about any VR headset. It modifies the default physics rules to create more natural interactions with players' in-game hands, including touching, picking …

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Leap Motion’s revamped hand tracking is getting built straight into VR headsets

2016-02-17T09:00:03-05:00

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When Leap Motion was announced in 2012, it seemed like a solution looking for a problem. A little black box that plugged into a computer, it could recognize hand gestures and translate them into interface commands - to let you "do things on your computer just like you do them in real life." But the company was trying to sell people on something they'd never asked for, for use with a machine they'd already been interacting with for years.

Then came virtual reality. When people first started using headsets like the Oculus Rift, the mouse and keyboard suddenly became inadequate: they were tough to find while effectively blindfolded, and they d …

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Leap Motion is building its hand-tracking tech into a lo-fi VR headset

2015-03-25T09:00:02-04:00

A high-profile VR headset is about to get its own motion control setup - and no, it's not the Oculus Rift. Today, Leap Motion announced that it would be adding its hand-tracking technology to the OSVR Hacker Development Kit, a piece of open source hardware that will be released this summer. The Leap Motion, originally released as a non-VR gesture interface, has become one of the most common virtual reality controllers. OSVR is a partnership between various VR and gaming companies, but it's better known for its headset, a rougher, cheaper, and more modular alternative to the Oculus Rift development kit.

OSVR will begin taking pre-orders in M …

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Leap Motion wants to be a window to the real world for VR headsets

2014-08-28T10:00:03-04:00

One of the best features of VR headsets also happens to be one of its greatest shortcomings. Headsets are designed so that you can't see anything else, making games incredibly immersive. Yet it also means that interacting with the real world requires removing it from your head. Not doing so brings the risk of knocking things over, including yourself. San Francisco-based Leap Motion has come up with a solution: you attach its $79.99 infrared camera sensor to the front of your headset, and use software to display live video of the real world right in the mask. Even better, you can do it without fully leaving whatever game or virtual experience …

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HP’s keyboard with built in Leap Motion gesture controls available this month for $99

2014-06-08T05:46:02-04:00

If you've been looking to play around with Leap Motion's innovative gesture control technology on your Windows PC but you hate the idea of plugging in a dongle, you'll be glad to hear that HP has decided to start directly selling its keyboard with the technology built in. Leap Motion representatives at the Computex trade show reportedly tell Engadget that the keyboard will go on sale this month for $99, which puts it at $25 more than the dongle itself. That will probably be a hard sell, especially since - in our testing - Leap remains a novelty, not a tool. But it's a significant move for Leap, as it gives the company another way to get its …

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HP’s new gesture-control laptop is the first with Leap Motion

2013-09-19T07:00:06-04:00

Gallery Photo: HP Envy 17 Leap Motion SE Touchsmart hands-on pictures

Touchscreens are now fairly standard in Windows 8 notebooks, but HP's new Envy 17 Leap Motion SE has integrated yet another type of input: touchless. The Envy has Leap Motion's gesture recognition technology built directly into the palmrest, allowing users to move seamlessly between the touchpad, touchscreen, and 3D gesture control.

This integration is powered by a new Leap Motion microsensor that's 70 percent smaller than the standalone peripheral. The new module is specifically designed to be embedded into various devices, which could allow the company to grow larger than it would as just a USB accessory manufacturer.

HP ap …

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Leap Motion Controller is a great toy, but not yet the future of interaction

2013-07-22T08:00:04-04:00

Leap Motion Controller

I got my first look at the Leap Motion Controller in an outdoor tent adjacent to the South by Southwest convention center months before it arrived on my desk. I found an empty computer and played a quick round of a Jenga-like game called Block54, hovering my thumb and forefinger over a gum pack-sized device to pinch and remove pieces. I found it incredibly difficult.

I played a lot more Block54 this past weekend in anticipation of the Leap Motion Controller's official launch today. This time, I was in the privacy of my own home instead of being surrounded by gawking strangers eager for their turn at the machine. I grew significantly better …

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