There hasn’t been a new technology that I’ve been this excited about in a long time. Back in the mid-2000′s it was the iPhone – the very FIRST iPhone. When I opened my iPhone on the first day it was released, it was really magical. Using the touch screen was revolutionary at the time. It was the first mobile device in the hands of consumers to have such a natural and elegant touch interface. And now we take that for granted. It was become second nature to tap and swipe.
I have to say, I’m just as excited about the Leap as I was about the first iPhone. I think this will change the way we compute and interact with digital content. And it will be taken for granted. I think this technology will be embraced across a wide variety of environments; from schools to the workplace to stages and DJ booths. Since it’s only $70, it may be as ubiquitous as the Magic Mouse and other wireless devices. And the gesture control will become just as second-nature as touch interaction is today.
The Leap will have a developer SDK, so there are endless opportunities for building applications. Integration with systems created with Processing and Cinder will take these creative applications to new heights. See the video below for a demonstration of how a developer created a Cinder app that takes full advantage of Leap’s natural gesture control and allows the user to create objects in 3D. Obviously, the ability to natural create art installations as well as 3D models is incredible.
I’ve pre-ordered mine. The Leap is supposed to ship early 2013. When I get, I’ll post some videos here. Stay tuned.
