Leap Motion’s motion sensing technology for personal computers looks very promising, but its main problem is that it is not available widely, which is why software developers rarely take advantage of it. However, this may change soon as Hewlett-Packard plans to commercialize a keyboard with integrated motion sensors this summer.
The Leap Motion controller is currently available in three forms: a $74.99 individual dongle, inside the special edition HP’s high-end Envy 17 notebook and inside an HP keyboard that is sold with select systems. Starting this month the keyboard will be available separately for $99, reports Engadget.
While the $99 price-point will hardly make the keyboard very popular among the end-users, enthusiasts will still buy it, which will catalyse more developers to create application that support Leap Motion’s sensors. The keyboard is compatible with any personal computer running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 7 or Windows 8 operating systems, hence, the potential customer base for the product looks rather huge.
So far Leap Motion has sold over half of a million motion sensors, which is a lot for a new gadget, but which is barely enough to make the technology widespread.
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KitGuru Says: At present it is hard to predict whether the HP keyboard with integrated motion sensing technology from Leap Motion will be popular. On the one hand, it can definitely change the way people interact with personal computers, but on the other hand the number of applications that support Leap Motion’s technology is limited.