Leap Motion V2 with full hand tracking

#7

This Ring is a bit more elegant And not just a after effects presentation. It actually works…I’ve tried the demo… BUT people are having trouble getting in contact with them…

Edit: TechCrunch seem to think the nod is Real

#8

I’m currently creating software on top of the Leap 2.x SDK to massage the data some more and make it available to most 3D animation packages.

Public beta here:
http://www.brekel.com/brekel-pro-hands

I haven’t had the chance to play with the Myo yet but I’ve heard from some people in the medical field who had access to a pre-release model that the data wasn’t as accurate as they hoped. Great concept though, maybe just needs some more time.

#9

If there is a way I can use this in Maya to mocap hands I am buying it tonight.

#10

Record to FBX and import in Maya. (BVH is in the works but FBX is generally much better)
You can adjust the axis so they match your particular rig, but Maya’s constraints also keep the offsets.

My app is not for sale yet, the public beta is free until all bugs and workflows are sorted, all I ask in exchange is feedback if you encounter any issues or requests.

#11

So you’re more interested in an unreleased, kickstartery iArmband misleading comp job than you are in a desktop 80$ hand motion capture system? :slight_smile:
The Myo insofar has been reported to have pretty noisy and useless output by every leak I read, is twice the price for a pre-order, and is based on a completely different paradigm, and is, in general, not meant for the same uses at all (battery powered free body vs desktop device). Myo goes after the iPad and smartwatch market participatns, Leap is actually useful for an animator and it’s been on several thousand desks for a while now and is only getting better (v2 also addressed the major infrared and ultralow red interference v1 suffered from, and it’s just a software update).

http://area.autodesk.com/mayaleapplugin
That’s for v1, but I honestly can’t see anything preventing v2 from offering full hands desk capture shortly after release. It’s not a particularly hard API to deal with and allegedly they offer a lot out of the box in terms of spatial data (including angular solutions) that should map to a rig in a straight forward manner.

#12

Yes, because I’m more interested in VR and games than making finger animations all day long :). Noise and useless output for what? Animation? I don’t need it. Do you have some leak where they tested it with VR ?

#13

Huh?
Once you have a read of the hand in space whether it comes from a band on the arm or from a set of cameras there’s no difference in the data (assuming quality), full hand recognition and interpolation even in hidden stages is what v2 is about, and it’s pretty remarkable for 80$.
The difference is installed vs worn, I have no idea why you’d think the Leap is “for finger animation”. Anyway, don’t expect the Myo to offer a wide range of gestures and particularly not much of a level of detail, it’s not really made for capturing complex data, it’s largely meant to catch a few gestures.
Anyway…

As for where, you can find a handful of people who commented on some mailing lists (if they are backed up in google groups) and newsgroups.
There’s also a couple papers on gesture recognition out already that allegedly used the Myo beta as one of various test inputs, I bumped into those looking for different capture material. See Cecille Freeman’s for a recent one.

If you’re interested in the Myo EMG (electromyography) is the subject you want to look into, which is where the Myo name and concept comes from.
It’s not some modern day revolution, the experimental application has been around for a century, and medical applications date half a century back or more probably, just recently hardware is getting small enough and powerful enough to run the sampling from a relatively inexpensive compact device. The scope of EMG limb local capture possibilities is relatively well explored already.

#14

You have to hold your hand over the LEAP, so using it for animation of more complex gestures will be hard too. MYO is all about not being tied to one place. For what you want a mix of those two will be probably better.

Anyway…

I searched some googlegroups and mailing lists and people reaction for Leap quality in those is similar to Myo, so I don’t think that’s a good source for making your opinion.

Lets wait for final version. Oculus developer kit V1 also suffered from many problems that were solved in V2.

I will probably end up picking both :stuck_out_tongue:

#15

Oh, this is cool! Separate is the way to go! With my current keyboard starting to fade away the paint on keys and computer update that I’m planning in second half of this year, I will pick it up for sure :slight_smile:

#16

Lets also add this and this to the collection.

#17

I have to preface this with that I have always wanted to learn blender but was put off by its reliance on key commands…

I don’t want a means of controlling a computer that is uber-efficient. I just want something natural. I want something like LEAP that can measure what my hands are doing in the context of using virtual tools. I want a precise virtual Dremel that can chip, cut, and polish virtual forms. I’d prefer CG have the best aspects of physical modeling but without any of the limitations of physical art. I like my infinite colour palette and unlimited undos. I don’t like using key commands whenever a gesticular action might feel more natural. Gimme something that simulates the feel (spatially at least) of holding something solid and acting upon it with known tools; drills, saws, etc. Simulate what is known; intuitive, physical. And (please!) only then start improving upon it.

#18

Key commands are great. I know a bunch. But they don’t “feel” like anything. The simple act of opening a menu and selecting an item takes fractions of a second longer than using key commands… It is however a closer approximation of the action of putting a physical tool back and selecting a new one. I don’t need to be able to change tools any faster than I can mentally shift tools in my mind. Efficiency is prized because people have deadlines.

That said, I do want everything automatic and instantaneous… Best imagination wins. :slight_smile:

#19

Virtual Reality isn’t going to be the thing… Augmented Reality will be. Your real world can now be shaped by virtual tools. Use the new Google thingie to take a 3d shot of a friend. Now you can see them in every room you enter. This town would be cooler with fighting Gundams… Bing!

We’ll all still be looking at reality, but it’ll have a HUD.

#20

Augumented Reality you can get with any narcotic :D.

I think that Virtual Reality will be a thing. Big thing. There are many possible uses for it, not just for games. If I would have enough money, I would open virtual travel company, where people that doesn’t have time or money to travel to other countries, or are afraid of diving/fumping etc., can just spend weekend in some picked by them place, without moving from home. It would be like with those iPads on wheels for telepresence, just instead for company meetings people would use it for travel.

And that’s just begin of the possible uses. Think about going to Football match in some distant place, and you can’t get there on time because of job. You can go and watch with VR.

#21

People should live their actual life, experience it healthily, and finalize their duties instead of escaping from facing it…

#22

Tell this to my grandma. She can’t go outside alone anymore because she is to weak for longer walks. With something like this she could go for journey without worrying that she faint from such long walk or get lost because of her problems with memory.

BTW. What you are doing on a CG site if you are so opposite to escaping from real life?

#23

HP has a keyboard with a built in leap motion sensor coming out later this month for $99.
http://www.wpcentral.com/hp-sell-keyboard-leap-motion-hardware-99-later-june

I’m still undecided on leap. Brekel’s got me considering it though…

I already preordered the Kinect2 for Win.

#24

I hope I didn’t hurt you, I’m sorry. : )
My post wasn’t against you, but a phenomena.
Yes, what you said for your grand mother, or travelling, could be a good concept, but this isn’t what I’m talking about.
Yet I think your grand mother would probably prefer to stay at home and enjoy breathing fresh air in the garden, with her grandchildren playing around her.

And be carried away by virtually travelling or admiring some places doesn’t necessarily mean “escaping” from the real world. But the thing I’m against is what disconnects you from reality, and makes you want to live another life, be someone else, while you don’t even live your real one, whether it’s by CG, traditionnal painting, film, social networks, or virtual reality.

And yes, I could be doing CG to escape, but I rather chose to use it in a healthy way, to tell and depict the beauty of life, noble behaviors such as the respect of the parents for example. There are so many good possibilities. It could be done in a imaginary, metaphoric way, but by always keeping your feet on the ground.

#25

I can see it taking off. Even the motion problem can be solved by reducing the amount the viewer is virtually moving, because moving the head to look around doesn’t have the disconnect of something like pretend flying. But by being so immersive it necessiates a greater detachment from actual reality than a video game. I think it would be great to wear a VR helmet on a roller coaster type ride, but I wouldn’t want to go to a friend’s house and try to have a conversation with someone wearing a helmet for hours as they game (vs walking in on a group playing Halo or something).

I guess I see Augmented Reality in a google glass kind of way but with real world data being displayed with videogame conventions. The timer in the corner is a countdown to your next appointment… The names of people around you displayed above them as they enter your immediate area. Instead of seeing “game” objectives scrolling below you, it will list things you’ve made a note to do. But with augmented reality we’ll have realtime replacement of advertising targeted to individual interests, and the possibility of adding any virtual item to an actual space. Maybe I want giant machine guns on my car, or pokemon who follow me everywhere I go… On Star Wars day I might choose having two suns in the sky…

There are of course unique technical considerations to comping CG into a real environment in real time that will still have to be resolved, but augmented reality just seems generally more practical, less socially disruptive than pure VR. (Actually it would be more “disruptive” in the sense of changing how we interact but less awkward with regard to how we value etiquette when doing so)

As for the VR football game, I am trying to imagine the tech of mo-capping an entire team of players and the ball in such the way that the action is viewable in actual time from any vantage point and with acceptable fidelity… Would VR viewers be OK with goals scored that due to latency, sync issues or whatever did not look “good” from their virtual vantage point?

#26