Over the last several years, the VR ecosystem has grown and diversified in ways that we could have scarcely imagined. We’re living through a technological Cambrian explosion where each new device and API takes us another inch closer to the Metaverse. But this incredible pace of development has resulted in serious fragmentation, with challenges for users, developers, and platforms alike.
// Leap Motion Team
Today we’re excited to announce the winners of the Leap Motion 3D Jam – but first, we have a special surprise for all our top 20 semi-finalists. It’s been an incredible competition, and we were really blown away by the high level of quality. As a result, we’ve decided to increase our prize pool! Now, each of the top 20 semi-finalists, along with three Honorable Mentions, will receive a cash prize.
It’s been five months since we launched the VR tracking beta, and since then we’ve made massive strides. In 2015, we’re building on this momentum with new resources for developers, while advancing support for several key VR platforms. In this post, I’d like to reflect on the year that we just left behind, and what’s coming in 2015. Here are just a few snapshots of the year ahead.
This week at CES, Mercedes-Benz unveiled their latest concept car with technology plucked from the pages of science fiction – including one of our latest prototypes. Embedded into the console, Leap Motion’s Meadowhawk modules allow drivers to access an experimental natural user interface. Visitors at CES can also see Leap Motion technology featured in a demo by Hyundai, as well as a standalone demo that our team is bringing to the showcase. While these are early concept demos, we’re excited to drive the future of touchless interaction in 2015.
We learned so much on the ground with our developer community in 2014. Translating soothing gestures into meditative brainwaves on EEGs. Springing drones to life. Navigating new ways of thinking about user interfaces in VR.
You’ve built incredible things this year, and along the way, we’ve based many of the experiments, resources, and examples found in the Developer Portal on your feedback and feature requests. We can’t wait to keep that conversation going in the New Year. And now, for a bit of inspiration, behold – our 2014 Shortlist of Virtual Superlatives:
Happy holidays! Today we’re thrilled to announce the top 20 semi-finalists for the Leap Motion 3D Jam: Presented by IndieCade – our six-week global competition for $75,000 in cash and prizes. If you haven’t played them yet, they’re all available for download (along with over 120 others) on the jam site.
After six weeks of heated competition, the 3D Jam closed with 150+ final submissions from developers in more than 40 countries around the globe. Now the first round of judging is underway – and you can vote for your favorites!
Sci-fi space odysseys and mysterious forests, quirky puzzles and addictive games, action-packed thrills and artistic experiments – there’s an incredible range of beta demos for you to download and play. Virtual reality was enormously popular among the jammers, with over 50% of submissions designed for the Oculus Rift.
With just one week until our 3D Jam submission deadline, we’re hosting another Let’s Play session today! At 2pm PST, join us on Twitch TV to see the latest demos and chat with your fellow game lovers.
While we ran into some technical difficulties with our audio setup and framerate last time (sorry about that, folks!) we’ll be up and running with a much stronger rig. To set a reminder, subscribe here, and we’ll email you five minutes before the session begins. While you wait, here are last week’s 3D Jam Let’s Play highlights!
This weekend, we saw 50+ early submissions to the Leap Motion 3D Jam! To celebrate the milestone, we’re hosting a live Let’s Play tomorrow at 4pm PST on Twitch TV – where you can join developers, gamers, and tech lovers to offer your commentary on these early contenders for jam supremacy.