Fully functioning hand-tracking
might be a ways off from becoming the standard form of VR input, but Leap
Motion is making a big step toward that future today, taking its Interaction
development engine to 1.0 and introducing some major new features. The
Interaction Engine has been available in early Beta since last year, but this
full release focuses on what could be a major application for hand-tracking
going forward — interfaces. Leap Motion has built a new user interface module
that allows developers to create their own accessible menus and systems that
can be navigated a little like Tom Cruise navigates menus in Minority Report.
Users reach out to virtual panels to press buttons and alter meters. The
company is also adding support for systems like wearables and widgets, enabling
wrist-mounted menus and more.
Also updated is the core physics
engine, which should make using Leap Motion a much more reliable and immersive
experience going forward. Perhaps the most exciting addition to the engine,
though, is Oculus Touch and Vive controller support. The combination of these
two technologies is very interesting. Touch also has basic gesture recognition
but imagine being able to hold a controller and still extend a finger to press
a button. The company has also launched a new Graphic Renderer that can curve
the user interface and render it in one draw call. This is specifically aimed
at mobile and standalone headsets. Leap Motion’s hand-tracking technology has
existed for years, but found a new lease of life in VR. We’ve seen the
company’s tech integrated into Qualcomm’s reference design for standalone VR
headsets though.
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