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Leap Motion shipments delayed until July 22nd, beta test period begins in June
Leap has been accepting pre-orders for its motion controller for some time now, and has been promising a ship date of May 13th since February, but there's now been a slight change of plans. The company has confirmed that it's delaying those shipments until July 22nd. In a letter sent to pre-order customers (included after the break), Leap CEO Michael Buckwald explains that the company has already manufactured over six hundred thousand devices and delivered twelve thousand to developers, and says "the reality is we very likely could have hit the original ship date." But, he adds, "it wouldn't have left time for comprehensive testing." That's now set to begin in the form of a beta test that will start in June, which will see developers who've already received a unit get a feature complete product, and other non-developers invited to join as well. According to Buckwald, that expanded beta test is "the only way we felt 100% confident we could deliver a truly magical product that would do justice to this new form of interaction." He'll be participating in an open Google Hangout tomorrow to discuss the move further -- specific details on it are promised to be coming soon.
HP to bundle Leap Motion on select products, incorporate the tech in future devices
Leap Motion is shaping up to be 2013's hottest peripheral. Less than a year after the gesture-control technology was first announced, the company's enlisted tens of thousands of developers in its motion-controlled ranks, partnered with ASUS and taken SXSW Interactive by storm. This morning, the company added another big win to the ever-growing list: a partnership with HP, which will eventually see the technology embedded in some new offerings from the PC veteran. According to a press release issued by the startup, "The relationship will start with the Leap Motion Controller bundled with select HP products and evolve to unique HP devices embedded with Leap Motion's technology." Those unnamed devices will also be loaded with Leap's Airspace, for easy access to custom apps.
AirBeats / AirHarp creator demos his forthcoming Leap Motion music apps
When it comes to developing music apps, Leap Motion's naturalistic interface seems like a no-brainer. Sure it doesn't offer the sort of tactile feedback you get from an actual instrument, but it certainly beats the heck out of, say, a keyboard and mouse. Adam Somers is among the early developers looking to bring a little bit of music magic to the tiny peripheral, and he gave us a sneak peak of what he's working on at a Smule event in San Francisco earlier this week. The simpler of the two apps is AirHarp. Still in early developer preview mode, the program is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a virtual harp. Hold your hand out and strings light up -- tap down and you can pluck them. Reach in a bit and you can strum with one or several fingers. More impressive is AirBeats, a virtual machine with two pads and a slew of sounds that lets you record tracks. Somers is hoping to have at least one of the apps out in time for Leap Motion's upcoming launch. You can check out demos after the break.
The Engadget Interview: Leap Motion CEO Michael Buckwald
At a show where developers are rock stars, Leap Motion just might be this year's Beatles. SXSW isn't the first time the company has given demos of its motion-controlled input devices, but it really seems to be the moment the world is taking notice -- and realizing the potential -- of its offering. Over the weekend, co-founders Michael Buckwald and David Holz addressed a packed Austin Convention Center hall, ahead of keynote conversations with Al Gore and Elon Musk. The company set aside some time this morning to speak with us and offer up some demos of the technology, expanding upon what we saw on stage the other day. At present Leap Motion's primary offering is a small box that sits by a PC, just in front of your keyboard. The little sensor detects the motion of your hands with a precision that allows it to distinguish the movement of individual fingers.
Syntellia teases Leap Motion Fleksy demo, promises to let us type on air
Laser projected virtual keyboards? So 2004. These days, tech firms are dreaming up completely invisible typewriters, or at least Syntellia is. By marrying a Leap Motion sensor with its own Fleksy predictive keyboard, the company has created a system that seems to let you type on thin air -- with the aid of Fleksy's predictive text correction, of course. A brief teaser video of the project shows a pioneering air-typist hammering out "kalr tgw ltsp," which Fleksy deciphers as "make the leap." Syntellia's SXSW Interactive Accelerator preview of the project won't officially debut until tomorrow, but the impatient can check it out right now after the break.
We're live at SXSW's Leap Motion panel
Can't get enough of futuristic peripherals? Hey, neither can we -- so it's a good thing we're here at SXSW this week. We're kicking off a series of liveblogs today with a conversation with Leap Motion co-founders David Holz and Michael Buckwald. Utilize your favorite input device and join us after the break, won't you?
Realmac, Leap Motion demo gesture-based Clear Mac app
Remember Clear, the to-do app from Realmac Software with the impressively different user interface? It's a cross-platform favorite of the TUAW staff, with versions available for OS X (US$6.99) and iPhone ($1.99). Well, the guys at Realmac are going to build in support for the Leap Motion gesture-based controller, and they've provided a video demo featuring the ever-popular Nik Fletcher. There's no exact timeframe for the Leap Motion-enabled Mac version, other than "later this year".
Leap Motion used for legitimate air drumming, authentic instrument control
Hacking Kinect might get you access to an audible air guitar, but Stephane Berscot can do you one better -- tweaking the pitch of a tangible axe via Leap Motion's virtual work space. Berscot configured a Leap tweak his guitar's pitch based on the instrument's position over the device. That's not all, either, the makeshift MIDI controller also functions as a keyboard equalizer and a set of functional air drums. Combining all three tricks together scored Berscot a pretty mean demo track, but it's apparently a lot harder than it looks. "It wasn't easy to play drums with it," he said, explaining how he had to detect beats based tracking the upward and downward velocity of the drumstick. "My method is pretty basic and still needs some work." Even so, the demo definitely shows the device's potential. Skip on past the break to see Berscot kick out the jams.
Former Apple iAd VP Andy Miller to be President and COO of Leap Motion
Former head of Apple's iAd program Andy Miller recently left the company to join a firm called Highland Capital, but now he's taking another leap into the COO role of a company called Leap Motion. Leap Motion is currently working on a new device designed to make motion controlled gestures easy across multiple platforms, and Miller will be helping them try to release that product commercially. The move over to Leap Motion isn't too much of a "leap," actually (sorry about that one) -- Highland Capital has backed Leap Motion previously, and in his position there, Miller reportedly worked closely with his new employer. All of this just shows that iAd's legacy is carrying farther and farther. Given how the actual business at iAd is going lately, the service's biggest consequence may just be that it found its former executives some excellent followup jobs.
Leap Motion taps former Apple iAd VP Andy Miller to be President and COO
Apple's former iAd VP (and Quattro co-founder) Andy Miller only just took a job as a general partner at Highland Capital last year after leaving the gang in Cupertino, but he's now already moving on to another fairly high profile gig. Leap Motion has announced today that Miller will become its new President and CEO COO, placing him in a central role at a company that's facing the rather difficult task of actually delivering the goods after wowing most everyone with its new gesture control technology. As Fortune notes, however, the move doesn't come as a complete surprise. Highland Capital is backing Leap, and Miller himself has reportedly been spending about 80 percent of his time on the company over the past few months. In a statement, Miller said that he's "been fortunate to work with some of the most influential figures and companies in the technology industry, and I'm as excited about the Leap as I've ever been about a technology," adding that the "potential for the Leap is limitless, as it is going to fundamentally change the way we interact with so many devices in our lives." Update: Leap Motion has reached out and informed us that Miller will be President and COO, reporting to current CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald. The official press release can be found after the break.
Leap Motion gesture control technology hands-on
Leap Motion unveiled its new gesture control technology earlier this week, along with videos showing the system tracking ten fingers with ease and a single digit slicing and dicing a grocery store's worth of produce in Fruit Ninja. Still, doubts persisted as to the veracity of the claim that the Leap is 200 times more accurate than existing tech. So, we decided to head up to San Francisco to talk with the men behind Leap, David Holz and Michael Buckwald, and see it for ourselves. Join us after the break to learn a bit more about Leap, our impressions of the technology, and a video of the thing in action.%Gallery-156126%
Leap suggests future of gesture-based computing
When techies try to think of the future of gesture-based computing, they often discuss 2002's Minority Report, a sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise. In the flick, Cruise controlled a huge transparent display by moving his hands and arms like an orchestra conductor. Now San Francisco-based Leap is taking gesture control seriously, with a US$69.99 product that's expected to ship later this year. The Leap is a small aluminum and black plastic device that looks like it fell off of an iMac. Plug the Leap into a USB port on your Mac, load special software (Leap Motion), and then wave your arm to calibrate the device. Now you have control of about 8 cubic feet of space, with each motion of your hands or fingers precisely tracked to within 1/100th of a millimeter. Leap is looking to developers to create software to truly take advantage of the precise control provided by the device. As such, they've created a developer kit that's available to registered developers for free, including the SDK and a Leap. Examples of apps are shown in the video below, but it's apparent that the company has resolved one of the issues of moving gesture-based computing to the "big screen" -- getting rid of all of those fingerprints on your screen by making sure your fingers never touch the screen. The company says it is working with "many of the world's largest companies," so there's a hope that we'll see this technology built into future Apple products soon. [via CNET]
Leap Motion reveals super-accurate motion control tech, $70 device to change the UI game
In many respects, Microsoft has led the charge towards a future of gesture-based controls with its Kinect, and other tech giants like Samsung and Apple are getting in on the action, too. The move to motion controls isn't limited to the big boys, however. Leap Motion has created a new device, called the Leap, it claims is 200 times more accurate than existing technology and will take gesture controls to the next level. It's about the size of a pack of gum, and once connected to your computer via USB, it creates a eight-cubic-foot virtual workspace. Within that area, it tracks all ten of your fingers simultaneously to within 1/100 of a millimeter -- that level of accuracy allows for rudimentary gestures like pinch-to-zoom and more complex actions like manipulating 3D-rendered objects. Naturally, the company isn't telling much about the black magic making it happen, but Leap Motion claims that its software can be embedded in almost anything with an onboard computer, from phones to refrigerators. Users can customize it to suit their needs with custom gestures and sensitivity settings, in addition to chaining multiple Leap devices together to create a larger workspace. Plus, Leap Motion has created an SDK for devs to create Leap-compatible applications and an app discovery platform to distribute them to others. That means the Leap can work in a variety of use cases, from simply navigating your desktop to gaming and computer-aided design. The best part? Leap brings you this next-gen UX for a mere $69.99, and a select few can pre-order them now, with the full roll-out coming this winter. Full details follow in the PR below, and you can see the Leap in action in the videos after the break.
