Hey folks,
We’re approaching a public developer beta of skeletal tracking, so I’d like to provide an update on where things are headed with the Leap Motion Controller software and Airspace, our app discovery platform.
Since we launched the Leap Motion Controller last July, we’ve learned a lot about how people use their devices. Across hundreds of thousands of users, we’ve seen a nice mix of musicians, educators, hackers, scientists, and gamers from all over the world exploring new motion control experiences. We’ve seen Airspace grow from 75 apps to over 200. Core software localized into 8 languages, alongside support for 14 currencies. Devices sold in thousands of brick-and-mortar store shelves across 15 countries. Leap Motion tech embedded in a dozen HP products. It’s been a whirlwind year.
That said, we’ve also heard from lots of people who felt frustrated or disappointed with their first impressions of using the Leap Motion Controller. This is something we take very seriously.
The fundamental mission of Leap Motion is to break down the barriers between people and technology. This is a multi-year journey. The mouse and keyboard have evolved over decades alongside operating systems like Windows and Mac OS. Now we’re working to improve how people interact with computers – in the broad sense – by unlocking new experiences and enabling new applications.
As you may know, we’ve been working on a version 2 software update that will be pushed to all users for free later this year. No hardware change is required. At the core of V2 is a fundamental update to how finger and hand tracking works – what we’ve been calling skeletal tracking.
For the past several months, we’ve been iterating with a small developer community in private beta. Now we’re approaching public developer beta, which will be released in the coming weeks. This means it will still be a work in progress – with bugs and other rough edges – but that’s the point. We’re lucky to have an amazing community of developers who believe in the potential of motion control, and it’s critical we work together to continue refining the software as we prepare for V2’s consumer launch.
With skeletal tracking, an anatomical hand model will make hand and finger tracking robust to occlusion. This means you’ll be able to turn your hand vertically, make a fist, clap your hands, or intertwine your fingers without losing tracking. The updated API will also provide bone and joint positions and distinguish between finger types (e.g. index finger versus ring finger). Plus, pinch and grab gestures are tracked, finger IDs are persistent, and tracking confidence is exposed. The controller will also perform better in varied lighting conditions. These are all big steps forward.
V2 is about more than skeletal tracking. We’re working to ensure consistent interactions across all of the apps in Airspace, simplifying the overall Leap Motion experience. To that end, skeletal tracking enables something we’ve always wanted: on-screen hands that mimic the movements and positions of your actual hands. The point is that these digital representations of your hands will help make the interactions feel like you’re using your hands to grab, push, or pull an object.
In addition, we want to make it easier for developers building applications. For instance, we'll be providing more example code to incorporate hand models and use realistic physical interactions, as well as an avenue for you to share your own examples. On the end-user side, we also plan to improve the Airspace experience, especially by unifying Airspace Store and Airspace Home.
Beyond V2, we're looking forward to opening up new development opportunities with capabilities like a new API for accessing raw images as well as SDKs for Android and ARM devices. We'll introduce these as they become available, as V2 with skeletal tracking remains our top priority.
These are still early days, and we’re excited to see what the future will bring. But we’re even more excited to work with your projects, ideas, and feedback to continue on the journey to improve the way people interact with technology.
Onwards,
-Dan