Update: There is now an official Leap Motion mount for all VR headsets. Learn more at leapmotion.com/product/vr.
We recently started experimenting with pairing the Oculus Rift headset with the Leap Motion Controller.
Mounting the Leap Motion Controller onto the front of the Oculus Rift has provided some pretty good results. One of the issues with the Oculus Rift is that you can’t see anything around you while wearing the headset. Attaching the Leap Motion Controller allows users to see and interact with a virtual environment without the need to fumble for unseen peripherals. With the M1-created Leap Motion Demo Pack, it was quick and easy to get our hands into Unity3D and interact with objects seen through the Oculus Rift.
Later we experimented with 360 degree videos playing in Unity3D and using the Oculus Rift to look around and explore the space. Running this app in real-time with actual footage is a very immersive experience that really puts you right there in the space. Experiencing the videos with the Oculus Rift made it feel like you were actually there, like you could reach out and touch the objects and surfaces all around you.
We decided to see what else we could do with the Leap Motion Controller, this time pairing it with a Transparent LCD system from RealFiction. We developed interactive demo content where the screen is pitch black until the user waves their hand in front of the screen to “wipe away” the dark and reveal the object inside, like shining a virtual flashlight into the space to see what’s there.
There so much potential from combining these two technologies. We are looking forward to pushing the limits to see what can be accomplished. Stay tuned!
Richard Borys is a software developer at M1 Interactive. This post originally appeared on their blog.
A much anticipated combo! Glad someone’s put hours into the initial research, and getting it to work 🙂
Can’t wait for Interactive Oculus experiences
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What happened to the images?
We moved to blog.leapmotion.com, and it seems a few images got left behind. Sorry about that; it’s been fixed.
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