Can one person play an entire live orchestra with only two hands? Using the Leap Motion Controller, GecoMIDI, and a keyboard, Hagai Davidoff was able to dynamically control the flow of a full classical ensemble through natural hand and finger movements in the air. Check out how he did it in the video below.
With 116 titles and counting currently in the Airspace Store, there are lots of great apps to explore. This week, based on your reviews, we’re highlighting five of the most popular apps. Check out the video demos below for 3 computer control apps, an arcade smashup game and a hand-illustrated puzzle.
When we launched the Airspace Store, we heard from lots of developers excited about getting their web apps and other creations into the app store. Today, we’re happy to announce that we’re introducing support for browser-based experiences alongside native apps.
We’re ready to take your submissions for the new All Links category. Each link has its own app detail page, giving users a better opportunity to learn about it, along with a link to the external site for that particular app. As an example, check out HelloRun, a 3D runner game that runs entirely in your browser.
We’re excited to take this first step to welcome apps built around our JavaScript API into the forefront of Airspace Store and stoked to see what you’ve built!
To submit your link:
In case you’ve not yet dabbled with JavaScript-based apps, one of our top web resources is js.leapmotion.com, where you’ll find a variety of examples and tutorials, along with our full JavaScript API. We’ve seen that web apps are popular among our users – it’s great that they’re just one click away.
Happy coding – we can’t wait to see what you’ll create.
Are you ready to take World of Warcraft to the next level? Today developer Uwyn released a custom gesture mapping file for playing WoW with their popular game control app, GameWAVE. Here’s a quick guide to unlocking the power of GameWAVE so you can get started killing monsters and crushing your enemies with your bare hands. You’ve never played WoW like this.
Imagine walking into a room and creating a virtual forest in the air. Earlier this month, Vermont-based artist Craig Winslow debuted Growth at SEABA’s South End Art Hop. The original 3D-projection mapping experience put control into the fingertips of onlookers, and garnered great feedback from participants. By using Leap Motion Controllers, Winslow gave people the power to move their hands in the air and manipulate digital vines, branches, and beams of light cropping up against a stark blue sky.
Tokyo-based industrial artist Aliceffekt’s album Telekinetic went live this week, and it’s already getting international coverage for how it was made – it’s the first known album release created with the Leap Motion Controller. By translating hand movements and gestures into retro-futuristic sounds, Aliceffekt created the full 20-minute ambient album using the Leap Motion Controller as his main instrument. He recently used the Leap Motion Controller in a live performance at Tokyo Indie Dance Party, which you can see here:
Last month, we heard from Dr. Guillermo Rosa, who made Leap Motion history at his family’s private dental practice in Resistencia, Argentina. As the first person to use the Leap Motion Controller during dental implant surgery, Dr. Rosa is also the first person ever confirmed to use our technology under sterile operating conditions for a human patient.
Recently, we caught up with Dr. Rosa to ask him about his love of technology and experience with the Leap Motion Controller.
I’ve been an enthusiast of computers from childhood. My father bought me my first computer at the age of 11 – a Timex SICLAIR 2068. I did some programs, and with my brother built a gun to shoot the monitor.
Right after I graduated 17 years ago, I started to look for better ways of using computers in a clinical situation, trying to integrate as much as possible a PC (and all digital media) with dental operations in clinical/surgery situations, such as digital photographs to document cases, digital simulations of cosmetic changes, and improved communication with patients and the dental laboratory.
This helped us a lot in many aspects of our practice. We modified the dental equipment and developed an integration between the dental chair and a PC workstation, as the options in the market were very limited.
Every day, the number of digital images at the dental office is going up (for the better!), but interacting with this technology in a clinical/surgical situation is not easy. For proper ergonomics, we need to use an appropriate input device – you need the minimum (or ideally no) physical contact with surfaces that need to be regularly sterilized. The problem of sterility is one of the greatest challenges in modern healthcare technology.
We started using trackballs, followed by touchpads among others. But these input devices were not for surgery – unless we use an assistant outside the surgical field, they were not practical.
Then, last year, I saw a demo video on the Internet about the Leap Motion Controller. I was amazed, and I thought, “This technology may be great for the touchless clinical input interface we need!”
To perform the surgery and take the video, I was helped by my colleagues at C.O.R.E. Clinic, Dr. Maria Lidia Elizondo and Dr. Daniel Rosa. Using the Touchless for Windows app with dental imaging software during surgery, I navigated through Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) 2D-slice images, a planned implant surgery 3D model, and intraoperatory digital X ray images. Also, I used the device to manipulate (zoom in, zoom out, enhance contrast) intraoperatory digital X-ray images – new images obtained during surgery – to confirm the right position of the surgical guide and final position of the implant.
The system allowed intraoperative touchless control during the surgery. I was able to navigate through the windows, zooming in and out, navigating through the different images and slices, and use different imaging tools. It was also possible to move the 3D implant surgery planning model. In the end, a dental implant placement, simultaneously with guided bone regeneration procedure, was accomplished.
The combined system performed very well, and I found it very useful to control the system without touching anything and keeping the surgical environment. The Leap Motion technology worked fantastic during surgery and was extremely useful.
The habituation period is not very long – after some minutes, one can easily interact with the system. But, for using it during surgery, I recommend that the user spend several training sessions – assuming that s/he previously mastered the software with the standard input devices (e.g. mouse, touchpad).
Ultimately, it depends on how the user is accustomed to natural user interfaces like touchscreens. With a little training by the user, without a doubt, it is easier and faster than changing sterile gloves. I think it has enormous potential in our field, and in general surgery too.
Dr. Rosa is continuing his work with other computer control apps like GameWAVE and Pointable. What do you think about the use of Leap Motion technology in clinical settings? Where else can you imagine it being used – and what sorts of apps would be needed?