Arvind Gupta is the founder of the LEAP AXLR8R and partner at SOSventures.

Three months to make our world interactive… ready, set, GO!

When we first announced the LEAP AXLR8R, we had no idea what concepts the community of developers, designers and founders would come up with. Far exceeding our expectations, we were floored with visions of how the Leap Motion Controller could change how we interact with the everyday world. Today, we’re excited to tell you about the 10 teams who are turning those dreams into reality over the next 13 weeks.

Modern computer interaction is stuck behind a screen. But people won’t stay bound to these formats, and technology shouldn’t be limited to point-and-click interfaces. If the next generation navigates and creates content through the exact same methods we use today, we’ve failed as technologists.

We are thrilled to support the new breed of coders and designers who share our belief that the future of UX will be more, and together we are tearing down the barriers between people and computers.

One field that’s ripe for transformation is the medical technology industry; we were pleasantly surprised by the number of applicants looking to disrupt this space. From sterile operating room technology to gamifying stroke rehabilitation, one-third of the participants accepted into the LEAP AXLR8R will focus on medical applications.

Additional areas of focus include amplifying human creativity, building interactive holographic environments, and creating next-gen augmented reality.

LEAP AXLR8R Participants:

• MotionSavvy – Giving voice to the deaf and hard-of-hearing through real-time American Sign Language translation
• Diplopia – Restoring depth perception for the 5% of the population affected by amblyopia (lazy eye) through virtual reality computer games using Oculus Rift and Leap Motion
• Sterile Air – Creating the “Operating System” to enable a computerized, sterile surgical OR
• LivePainter – Enabling real-time DJ-ing and VJ-ing as performance art via live web collaboration
• Ten Ton Raygun – Gamifying physical rehabilitation therapy for Stroke and other injuries to make rehab fun, quicker, and measurable
• Mirror Training – Making robots an extension of your own body using Leap Motion and video. A DARPA spinoff revolutionizing robotic arm control with a natural user interface and visual feedback for the user
• GetVu – Creating a next-gen augmented reality platform that mixes computer vision with human vision in a wearable device
• Illuminator 4D – Easily create interactive, holographic environments for retail, and in-home usage
• Crispy Driven Pixels – Reinventing 2D and 3D creative software through a new, natural user interface
• Paralagames – Improving hand-eye coordination through games controlled by the hand

The ten teams will be armed with access to 25+ world-class mentors across UX, prototyping, design and robotics fields, technical support and guidance from the Leap Motion engineering team; $25k in seed funding from SOSventures, and enough caffeine to power a small city. Leap Motion will also provide each team with access to its advanced tracking software (currently in private beta). We’ll be sharing updates via our blog, Twitter and Facebook, so be sure to follow along.

The program will culminate with an invite-only demo day on May 9th, when each team will present a live demo of their product to an audience including investors and industry leaders.