Who will be the next Apple? What company with what disruptive idea will turn the world of technology upside down? In this series, Benzinga interviewed CEOs of several technology startups that are making waves today in hopes of making a difference tomorrow.
Leap Motion – 3D Motion-Control
Leap Motion is a software and hardware company that develops and produces 3D motion-control technology.Michael Buckwald, Leap Motion CEO and co-founder, shared with Benzinga his vision of how the company is changing the way people interact with computers.
Leap Motion Controller
In 2013, the company launched its Leap Motion Controller, a USB peripheral that let users navigate and interact with computer applications by converting hand and finger movements into 3D input.
In August 2014, it introduced support for virtual and augmented reality experiences, Buckwald said.
Solving An Interaction Problem
Co-founder and CTO, David Holz, along with Buckwald, started the company based on the realization that interacting with technology was often slowed down due to the nature of computer interfaces.
According to Buckwald, “We wanted to enable people to do things on a computer that they otherwise could not do. The goal of Leap Motion was to make it so that anyone could ‘reach into their computer’ and work with digital content as they naturally would in the real world.”
Gaming
Naturally, one of the initial and most popular applications for the Leap Motion Controller was gaming.
Buckwald pointed out that certain experiences were improved by motion control, especially in virtual and augmented reality settings.
Pairing the Leap Motion Controller with VR devices such as Oculus Rift would allow the user to enter a world where they could virtually reach into a game and interact with it as they could in a real-life environment.
“It’s also important to keep in mind,” Buckwald cautioned, “that motion control shouldn’t be a replacement for all other types of input devices.”
A Keyboard And More
To emphasize that point, in 2013, Leap Motion announced a partnership with Hewlett-Packard Company HPQ.
The result of that partnership was the Leap Motion Keyboard and the ENVY 17 Leap Motion SE laptop, both with embedded Leap Motion technology.
The Software
Also made available were more than a dozen online bundles, including access to over 220 apps in the Leap Motion App Store.
According to Buckwald, the selection includes “everything from games to creativity and educational apps.”
The apps come from a network of more than 150,000 developers worldwide, Buckwald said.
“Some of our favorite outside-of-the-box examples,” he said, “are art installations, new instruments and other interactive experiments. The possibilities are endless.”
Additional Uses
Already, Leap Motion has been used in a variety of industries including design, education, data visualization and the medical field.
“Musicians have incorporated Leap Motion,” Buckwald said, “as an instrument to create electronic tracks; surgeons have used the device to read MRIs in the operating room; and children have learned through an entirely new medium.”
2015 And Beyond
“2015 will be a huge year for us with VR leading the way,” Buckwald said.
“One of the most popular and recent demos is Quick Switch, which allows users to switch between the real world and virtual world with a single ‘swipe’ while wearing an opaque VR headset. Simple and incredibly useful.”
In addition, the latest Mercedes-Benz concept car, the F 015, has Leap Motion as one of the chief pieces of technology.
“Our motion control tech is actually embedded into the console,” Buckwald said. “Separately, Hyundai Motor Co Ltd HYMLF also utilized Leap Motion technology in their demos on this year’s CES show floor.”
“Ultimately,” Buckwald said, “we hope Leap Motion will be embedded in hardware that doesn’t exist today, but could be made possible with this type of input.”
At the time of this writing, Jim Probasco had no position in any mentioned securities.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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