Leap Motion Introduces the New Interaction Engine

From their blog, Leap Motion has introduced the Interaction Engine 1.0.

It began as a beta last year and has finally graduated to 1.0 status. Some of the features it brings and improves on are:

The fundamental purpose of the Interaction Engine is to handle interactions with digital objects. Some of these are straightforward, others more complex.

This deals with the question of what happens when the hand contacts, grasps or hovers near virtual objects. The focus is on providing consistent experiences across the board and making it easier and more turnkey for developers; they should concentrate more on the content than the nitty gritty of this stuff.

Users anticipate interacting physically with both objects and interfaces. That’s why we’ve built a powerful user interface module into the Interaction Engine so developers can customize and create reliable interfaces that are a delight to use. These are physically inspired, allowing users to understand the system on their first touch.

Not only are they focusing on physical interfaces, but also on wearable interfaces and widgets. Imagine turning your hand over to see several small virtual object floating near it. Grab one, toss it out in front of you and it becomes a virtual palette. Or maybe a chat interface. Simply grab it again and put it back on your wrist when you're done.

For more details, as well as nifty animations demonstrating these focuses, visit Interaction Engine 1.0: Object Interactions, UI Toolkit, Handheld Controller Support, and More.

They also have a 15% off sale on the hardware dev kit until the 15th of June. I might have to get one.