Leap into the future with 3D motion sensor

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Touchscreen really did seem like a breakthrough for technology. It’s just so much easier to touch the keyboard on your iPad than press keys. Yes, we are either becoming more lazy or perhaps smarter, who knows? Either way technology keeps on developing and just when we think we are used to one device or function another one is thrown at us and we have to learn all over again.

However, the new kid on the technology block might not be that difficult to master as it simply involves natural hand movements to control your computer tasks, nothing else. Sounds like something out of a futuristic Sci-Fi film? It’s actually better. Meet the Leap motion sensor.
leap motion sensor

This tiny oblong device may look like any old USB stick but in actual fact it contains the power to change how we interact with computers forever. Is this actually any different to other motion sensors such as Microsoft’s Kinect motion? Well, the answer to that is the intelligence which has gone into it. David Holz may well be the next young Einstein as his ability to crack major algorithms and ‘solve the unsolvable’ means that the Leap motion sensor is accurate to within a hundredth of a millimetre and its sensitivity means the slightest finger movement can move scroll down a page. So no need to wave your arms frantically at the screen or jump up and down, no strenuous physical activity whatsoever. Phew!

The Leap motion offers a lot of potential to many professions particularly the creative kind. Imagine being able to mould and create a design in your hands and it to appear on the computer screen. How much more efficient would that be than sketching out your ideas first onto paper, then using a mouse and a particular software to finish the design. It takes time and ultimately limits your creativity. We are so used to using a mouse and keyboard we have forgotten about how much more flexibility we would have if we could just use our hands.

The Leap motion will not only hold potential for creative types but will be extremely helpful for professionals who work with 3D images such as scientists examining molecules or energy experts studying oil exploration maps. The user friendly interface means that anyone can use it, there will no longer be a need to be ‘tech savvy’. This will undoubtedly improve productivity at work as people will not be put off by added gadgets and gimmicks just told to ‘use your hands’.

An added advantage is that it is portable so you can literally use it anywhere, even in that next meeting you have. Forget clickers to move to the next slide, just use your hands. Imagine how impressed your audience would be!

This is definitely a fresh way of using and interacting with our computers, the possibilities really do seem endless. The added efficiency to business is unimaginable and at a starting price of $70 I think the future may be in reach a lot faster than we first thought.

About the author 

Pete Baikins

Pete Baikins is an international authority on gamification, a lifelong gamer, successful entrepreneur and a lecturer. As CEO of Gamification+ Ltd he mentors and trains companies world-wide on the use of gamification to solve business challenges. Gamification+ won the Board of Trade Award from the UK's Department of International Trade in January 2019.

Pete is co-host of the health gamification podcast Health Points and is also Chair of Gamification Europe, the annual conference for Gamification practitioners.

Pete is an Honorary Ambassador for GamFed (International Gamification Confederation), having previously been the Chair from 2014 to February 2019, whose aim is to spread best practices within and support the gamification industry.

After 15 years as a Lecturer on gamification and entrepreneurship at the University of Brighton he now guest lectures on Gamification at King’s College London and at ESCP Europe at post-graduate and under-graduate levels.

Over the past 20 years Pete has built and sold two businesses. One was in security software and the more recent one was a telecoms and internet connectivity business. He is also an Ambassador for Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce in the UK.

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