Forum Discussion
About the LEAP Motion controller
Hi I was wondering if anyone out there could answer this question. The LEAP Motion sensor has a range of 8 cubic feet. If you were to strap it around your chest, could you use it to track both of your arms and hands? I just watched the video that plays on their web page and it showed it's ability to "see" both hands at the same time and it also seemed to have decently low latency. You could run a long USB cable along with the one connected to the RIFT breakout box and seemingly have it track and render both of your arms AND hands in-game. This might be an issue for someone with crazy long arms but I am around 5'10" and my arms rotate around a space quite close to 8 cubic feet (perhaps give or take the LEAPs range being possible higher as it seems to be with the RAZER Hydra). Anyway I would like to hear another persons view on this.
24 Replies
- I really like the idea. I had considered trying to connect the two but had not thought about putting the LEAP sensor on your chest. My idea was to have a 3D drawing app where you can see the object you are drawing in 3D through Oculus.
"lukeinth" wrote:
I really like the idea. I had considered trying to connect the two but had not thought about putting the LEAP sensor on your chest. My idea was to have a 3D drawing app where you can see the object you are drawing in 3D through Oculus.
Ya, if it works it would be an interesting solution to interacting with the game/app world!... If it works. Unfortunately I don't have one to experiment on. Actually I only just watched the LEAP in action today on their website. Maybe someone who has access to one could try it out. Although I'm not sure if the actual device is even available yet.- One thing with the LEAP is locating the sensor relative to your body, or virtual environment. Imagine the view from the LEAP -- it sees your forearms and hands, say... Now, where does that mean they are in some larger context? Say your hands move like they are lifting... oh, but maybe you just exhaled. So, you should consider how you'll "virtually anchor" the LEAP -- what is it's position relative to, and is it consistent. I think this is an issue even in cases where LEAP is used with a monitor, and might be something they're struggling with before being able to commercialize it.
"atavener" wrote:
One thing with the LEAP is locating the sensor relative to your body, or virtual environment. Imagine the view from the LEAP -- it sees your forearms and hands, say... Now, where does that mean they are in some larger context? Say your hands move like they are lifting... oh, but maybe you just exhaled. So, you should consider how you'll "virtually anchor" the LEAP -- what is it's position relative to, and is it consistent. I think this is an issue even in cases where LEAP is used with a monitor, and might be something they're struggling with before being able to commercialize it.
I see what you mean. Well if those things could be worked out it would in theory at least be a cool way to interact with the virtual environment (while being able to see your arms in real time). Maybe something will come along that can do these things. Until a true VR input device is created hardware like the Rift can only bring us so far into the Virtual World. Here's to hoping it comes along soon! :)"KingK76" wrote:
This might be an issue for someone with crazy long arms but I am around 5'10" and my arms rotate around a space quite close to 8 cubic feet
You have arms like a tyrannosaurus? :)
The 8 cubic feet volume of the leap motion is in a roughly (according to the leap motion forum) 150 degree hemisphere above the device with a range of around 20 inches. (50.8cm)- Could it work if you attach the Leap to the front of the Rift pointing downwards? ;-)
"Sebbi" wrote:
Could it work if you attach the Leap to the front of the Rift pointing downwards? ;-)
I think the issue with that would be that your head tracks independent of your arms. This is why I thought the chest would work better as your arms are attached to your torso and movement at their base would be 1 to 1. Every time you move your head it would seem as though your arms were moving."kojack" wrote:
"KingK76" wrote:
This might be an issue for someone with crazy long arms but I am around 5'10" and my arms rotate around a space quite close to 8 cubic feet
You have arms like a tyrannosaurus? :)
The 8 cubic feet volume of the leap motion is in a roughly (according to the leap motion forum) 150 degree hemisphere above the device with a range of around 20 inches. (50.8cm)
Ya I hadn't read that on their site. I was figuring an 8 cubic feet space was around 2 feet out and all around from the source (to the front, or above the sensor). I grabbed my trusty tape measure and set it to 2 feet starting from the center of my chest, outstretched my arm (as the other was holding the tape measure) and went straight out, to the side and up. Straight out my arm was around the end of the tape and up and to the side my arm went slightly further then the tape measure. Anyway I thought it would be an interesting method to look into... Apparently you do not... lol. :DI was figuring an 8 cubic feet space was around 2 feet out and all around from the source (to the front, or above the sensor).
That's 16.75 cubic feet.Anyway I thought it would be an interesting method to look into... Apparently you do not... lol.
I didn't say it wasn't interesting, it's just that you don't need "crazy long arms" to go past the leap's scan range.
Actually it might have longer range than 20 inches, but only in the horizontal and distance axes, the vertical is shorter. I've heard it's a half ellipsoid, not a half sphere. But I couldn't find any hard facts yet.
I registered to become a leap developer back in december. I'm still waiting for them to approve me.
I'd like to try sticking it to the front of a rift like sebbi suggested, but not for arm tracking. Instead pipe the depth view straight through so you have a freaky z buffer vision. :)
Maybe with some kind of solid backing like body armour (but cheaper) you could get the leap on your chest without it moving with every breath."kojack" wrote:
Maybe with some kind of solid backing like body armour (but cheaper) you could get the leap on your chest without it moving with every breath.
Just to clarify, my main point was you need to "locate the LEAP sensor" to know where the things it senses are at, and if it moves, you need a way to read it's movement -- so, motion tracking again. :) And one should also be wary of a chain of inaccuracies building up (chains of sensors dependent on each other, rather than sensor fusion with redundant sensors).
