English: 6 degrees of freedom (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Most Important New Technology Since the Smart Phone Arrives December 2012
Leap Motion, a small, $70 gesture control system that simply plugs into any computer and, apparently, just works ..... Unlike a touchscreen interface, with the Leap, there's no friction. That sounds trivial, but it isn't. It's the difference between attempting to conduct a symphony with a wand and attempting to conduct the same symphony by sketching out what the orchestra should do next via chalk on a blackboard. ..... Leap operates in three dimensions rather than two. Forget pinch-to-zoom; imagine "push to scroll," rotating your flattened hand to control the orientation of an object with a full six degrees of freedom, or using both hands at once to control either end of a bezier surface you're casually sculpting as part of an object you'll be sending to your 3D printer. .... the Leap can see almost any combination of objects - a pen, your fingers, all 10 fingers at once
This is a leap from 2D to 3D.
One question though, if it picks up gestures well, would you not need to be trained to use it? What if you end up making unwanted gestures? Not everyone can conduct a symphony, you know.