Category Archives: air gesture control pc

HP FIRST TO EMBED LEAP MOTION TECHNOLOGY IN HP ENVY 17

Hardware startup Leap Motion, which managed to sell an impressive number of pre-orders for its standalone Leap Motion Controller gesture control computer accessory, today announced that Hewlett-Packard is becoming first computer maker to build Leap Motion’s technology into one of its machines.

The HP ENVY17 Leap Motion SE is the first shipping computer to build the startup’s tech directly in, and features a new embedded Leap Motion sensor which has dramatically reduced its size compared to previous embedded designs. Reduced design makes it possible to embed the technology directly into a computer and also makes it feasible to build sensors into tablets and the smallest, slimmest laptop designs, according to him.

“We have a new, very small embedded module, which is about 70 percent thinner than the existing components in the Leap Motion,” Leap Motion CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald said in an interview. “But it also has the same performance as the existing motion controller. HP is the first OEM to embed this new model sensor into a device.”

The smaller embedded sensor will be placed in the base of the computer, next to the trackpad, Buckwald says. HP appears to be just testing the technology for now, however, as the Leap Motion Controller will only be available in a single notebook configuration.

Leap Motion’s technology is designed to allow users to control their computers with hand gestures alone. Until now, the only way to use it was with the Leap controller, a USB stick-sized device that plugs into a computer’s USB port. The technology measures motion with an accuracy of a hundredth of a millimeter. The standalone Leap Motion Controller may have sold in considerable numbers via pre-orders, but reviews for the device were less than enthusiastic.

HP will bundle the ENVY17 Leap Motion SE with Airspace, Leap Motion’s app store software, as well as select pre-installed applications exclusive to the computer maker.

The HP Envy 17 Leap Motion SE TouchSmart Notebook will cost $1,049, which appears to be roughly the same price as buying a similarly configured Envy 17 along with the standalone USB Leap Motion peripheral. It should be available for preorder on October 16th.