Last week I ordered a Leap Motion device from a seller on eBay and was lucky enough to receive it just in time for the weekend. It came in a small box and the packaging feels as though it resembles that of Apple products.
The contents of the box are as follow: Leap Motion controller, shorter usb cable, longer usb cable, information pamphlet, and quick start card.
The setup process simply involved downloading the client software from the Leap Motion website. If you were planning on developing applications with the controller, you can download a package bundling the SDK as well as the client software. Within only a few minutes I was running through the example applications that come preinstalled and getting a feel for how to interact with a virtual space using just my hands. This is an example of a mini game named "Kyoto."
Impressions:
The Leap Motion controller may have not taken off as consumers originally spectated, but it is a neat experimental device none the less. One thing I was concerned about was latency between the mid-air gesturing and the gesture appearing in the application. For some applications, latency was not an issue, though there was still noticeable delay. The applications where latency seemed like a problem were games that involved considerably more graphics processing.
Moreover, though gesture control is a neat idea, most people are not yet accustomed to using mid-air gestures for extended periods of time. During my experience with the bundled applications, I found myself switching hands for the interaction due to some light discomfort. Throughout the gesturing you eventually start noticing that heavy feeling in your arm when it is getting tired. It is not a total deal breaker for me, but it is going to depend on the application to really showcase the capabilities this provides or make you wish you were just using a regular mouse and keyboard.
As of now, I am still pretty impressed with the Leap Motion controller and am very excited to get tinkering with it this weekend! Look for my next post using tag #leapmotion for more on how I am using this neat piece of hardware.
*Disclaimer: I do not own the banner image. All rights for the image belong to Leap Motion.
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