[rywang]

A big problem with the LEAP is that there isn't an effective way to click / select something. Pushing forward with your index finger isn't very accurate when the finger tip is also controlling the position. Hence, you always seem to miss where you intend to click. Good selection is a pretty important piece of almost any useful application.

Disclaimer: I work at 3Gear Systems (http://threegear.com), developing technology that possibly competes with the LEAP. We solve clicking by tracking the entire hand -- not just the straight finger.

[nairteashop]

This is very interesting, doubly so because at my last gig (retailnext.net) we were looking into shopper tracking via ToF technology.

Fine gestures like clicking do indeed work terribly on the Leap. Their own app (Touchless) uses a difficult "poke" gesture for clicking vs. some other coarse and easily-detectable gesture.

The one thing that Leap has going for it is though is that it is small and positioned under the wrist, which means that installation is super-easy, and at some point it will be built into some laptops and keyboards. This means it will likely do better in the consumer space. (assuming they can fix all the bugs, that is)

However, if your technology can detect more gestures robustly, it will do WAY better in professional environments where ease of installation is not such a big deal (e.g the surgery room, animation studios, etc). I'm sure you already know this, but just typing out my thoughts :)

[rywang]

A couple medical device companies and a hospital are evaluating our system right now. :-)

We're actively working on supporting smaller / shorter-range sensors as well. You probably already know that in addition to the Kinect, a lot more depth cameras are on the market now: PrimeSense's Capri, SoftKinetic, PMD, Inuitive Tec, etc. All of these companies have introduced gum-stick sized sensors that can be embedded in a laptop or monitor.

[__--__]

I actually had no problem with clicking accurately. Instead of pushing "forward", I twitched my finger downwards, like you would normally do when clicking a mouse. My problem is fingers would randomly appear and disappear, despite the fact my hands hadn't moved (or at least not enough for me to notice they were moving). I attempted to play cut the rope and was completely unable to get it to reliably track a single finger.

[bobbles]

Couldn't you use a foot pedal as a mouse button? You could easily add multiple switches or triggers that way.

[ajuc]

Or microphone.

"this" for clicking, "draaaaaaaag" for dragging.

[kodr]

would it be too annoying to add another parameter for a click, like a sound of voice signal?

the other alternative I'd see would be to have a virtual representation, and to be able to "click" on it, but it isn't really for a near future...