Leap Motion’s Finger Gesture Control Device

This has to be one of the coolest peripheral devices I’ve seen in a while. Leap Motion is planning on launching a new, 3D gesture control system around the end of the year. The device monitors an eight cubic foot space and can, purportedly, monitor finger motions 200 times more accurately than anything else on the market at any price point. All of that for $70.

Leap Motion describes the Leap as:

…an entirely new way to interact with your computers. It’s more accurate than a mouse, as reliable as a keyboard and more sensitive than a touchscreen.  For the first time, you can control a computer in three dimensions with your natural hand and finger movements.

They also take a not so subtle dig at Microsoft’s Kinect:

This isn’t a game system that roughly maps your hand movements.

If it can live up to the claims, this will be a very cool and useful device. I jumped in and pre-ordered one.  In seven or eight months, I might get to see how it works with my mac.

It will be interesting to see if this works as well as advertised, and if any notebook manufacturers incorporate the Leap into their products.