sensing technology company . for the physical movement see jumping . leap motion inc. industry motion control founded november 1 2010 founder michael buckwald david holz headquarters san francisco california united states website www.leapmotion.com leap motion inc. is an american company that manufactures and markets a computer hardware sensor device that supports hand and finger motions as input analogous to a mouse but requires no hand contact or touching . in 2016 the company released new software designed for hand tracking in virtual reality . contents 1 history 2 partnerships 3 technology 4 developer community 5 reception 6 references 7 external links history edit the technology for leap motion was first developed in 2008 while co founder david holz was studying for a ph.d. in mathematics . 1 2 following an initial angel investment holz co founded the company in 2010 with his childhood friend michael buckwald . the company raised a 1.3 m seed financing round in june 2011 with investments from venture capital firms andreessen horowitz founders fund and sosv as well as several angel investors . 3 in may 2012 leap motion announced a 12.75 m series a funding round led by highland capital partners . 4 in january 2013 leap motion announced a further series b round of funding for 30m . 5 after operating in quiet since 2010 leap motion publicly announced its first product originally called the leap on may 21 2012 . the company launched a software developer program in october 2012 6 and distributed roughly 12 000 units to developers interested in creating applications for the device . while the device was slated to launch in may 2013 full scale shipping was later delayed until july . 7 in march 2014 it was reported in techcrunch that roughly 500 000 units had been sold far short of initial expectations ; as a result leap motion announced layoffs for 10 percent of its workforce primarily in sales and marketing . 8 on april 7 2014 coo andy miller left the company . 9 in may 2014 leap motion released its version 2 software to developers in a public beta . 10 11 12 in august 2014 the company launched a vr tracking mode for its core software designed to provide hand tracking while the device is mounted on virtual reality headsets such as the oculus rift . 13 14 later that year leap motion launched a global game jam in partnership with independent games festival indiecade with over 75 000 in prizes . the competition received over 150 submissions . 15 a second competition in 2015 resulted in 189 entries . 16 in march 2015 it was announced that the upcoming osvr hacker development kit would include an optional faceplate with embedded leap motion module . 17 in february 2016 leap motion released new software called orion built specifically for vr . 18 partnerships edit leap motion has partnered with asus who is expected to ship high end notebooks and all in one pcs aio pcs with the technology later in 2013 . 19 leap motion also announced a deal with hewlett packard to embed its technology within hp computers . 20 in december 2013 it was reported leap motion would be embedded into eleven hp devices including keyboards and laptops . 21 leap motion has formed retail partnerships with best buy newegg and amazon.com . 22 leap motion controllers are sold by dick smith in australia and new zealand . 23 24 technology edit leap motion controller the leap motion controller is a small usb peripheral device which is designed to be placed on a physical desktop facing upward . it can also be mounted onto a virtual reality headset . using two monochromatic ir cameras and three infrared leds the device observes a roughly hemispherical area to a distance of about 1 meter . the leds generate pattern less ir light 25 and the cameras generate almost 200 frames per second of reflected data . 26 this is then sent through a usb cable to the host computer where it is analyzed by the leap motion software using complex maths in a way that has not been disclosed by the company in some way synthesizing 3d position data by comparing the 2d frames generated by the two cameras . 27 28 in a 2013 study the overall average accuracy of the controller was shown to be 0.7 millimeters . 29 the smaller observation area and higher resolution of the device differentiates the product from the kinect which is more suitable for whole body tracking in a space the size of a living room . 30 in a demonstration to cnet the controller was shown to perform tasks such as navigating a website using pinch to zoom gestures on maps high precision drawing and manipulating complex 3d data visualizations . 30 leap motion initially distributed thousands of units to developers who are interested in creating applications for the device . the leap motion controller was first shipped in july 2013 . 7 in february 2016 leap motion released a major beta update to its core software . dubbed orion the software is designed for hand tracking in virtual reality . 31 32 developer community edit in december 2013 founders fund and sosv announced the leap.axlr8r a business accelerator for startups making innovative use of the leap motion controller . 33 34 projects emerging from the accelerator included diplopia now vivid vision a tech startup using the leap motion controller and oculus rift for lazy eye sufferers 35 36 37 and motionsavvy which is developing a leap motion equipped tablet case that can interpret american sign language . 38 39 leap motion has an app store called airspace where it sells apps made by developers . 40 41 as of may 2014 the store had over 200 apps including a google earth integration 42 43 virtual clay sculpting app 44 45 digital musical instrument 46 and virtual reality demos . 17 47 the leap motion controller has also been used by surgeons and researchers for medical software 48 49 50 automotive companies for concept cars 51 and musicians for composition in ableton live . 52 in 2016 altspacevr added leap motion support to their online social platform . 53 54 reception edit on july 22 2013 the leap motion controller was released to pre order customers to mixed reviews . 55 56 to some reviewers the product feels underwhelming and does not live up to the hype . it is an admirable distraction but not useful for truly productive usage and to some it feels as though they experienced a gimmick . some reviews have expressed cautious optimism about the product s success and innovation . 57 58 59 to other reviewers the leap motion controller seemed pretty damned impressive and that the device demonstrates leap motion s impressive mastery of computer vision . 60 61 while the orion software offers improvements in tracking and as the system continues to improve some users feel that it fails just often enough to undercut its value as an interface . 62 the orion beta works on the existing peripheral and leap motion also announced that orion hardware would be embedded in future virtual reality headsets citation needed . references edit richardson nicole marie 2013 05 28 . one giant leap for mankind . inc.com . retrieved 2014 08 15 . holz began developing the software back in 2008 while he was studying for a ph.d. in mathematics at the university of north carolina at chapel hill . frustrated by the limitations of the mouse and keyboard he spent nearly five years developing the cameras in the controller . by the time he paired up with buckwald a childhood friend and entrepreneur holz had a prototype . ... foster tom 2013 07 22 . will these guys kill the computer interface as we know it . popular science . retrieved 2014 08 15 . tsotsis alexia 2011 06 10 . ocuspec raises 1.3 m from andreessen and others to build an affordable kinect . techcrunch . retrieved 2012 05 23 . stealth motion control startup ocuspec has just raised a 1.3 million seed round from andreesen horowitz founders fund sosventures international and angels brian mcclendon bill warner and others . ... leap motion previously ocuspec leap motion announces 12.75 million series a funding round led by highland capital partners . leap motion . marketwire . 2012 05 09 . retrieved 2012 05 23 . leap motion a san francisco based motion control software company changing the future of human computer interaction today announced a 12.75 million series a funding round led by highland capital partners with participation from existing investors . kosner anthony 2013 12 06 . leap motion announces 30m series b funding and bundle deal with asus computers . forbes . retrieved 2013 12 08 . leap motion the startup behind the revolutionary leap motion control device has secured an additional 30 million in series b funding and announced a partnership with asus to bundle its controllers with new high end notebooks and premium all in one pcs later this year . panzarino matthew 2012 10 29 . leap motion launches software developer program and starts sending test units of its 3d controller . the next web . retrieved 2014 08 19 . a b etherington darrell 2013 04 25 . leap motion controller ship date delayed until july 22 due to a need for a larger longer beta test . techcrunch . aol . etherington darrell 2014 03 20 . leap motion lays off 10 % of its workforce after missing on first year sales estimates . techcrunch . retrieved 2014 08 14 . gannes liz april 7 2014 . confirmed former apple exec andy miller out at leap motion . recode.net . buckley sean 2014 05 28 . leap motion s latest motion tracking tech can see your joints . engadget . retrieved 2014 08 14 . moynihan tim 2014 05 28 . leap motion adds more intricate tracking to its amazing controller . wired . retrieved 2014 08 14 . wing anthony 2014 05 29 . leap motion hand tracking gets more realistic to solve real world problems . forbes . retrieved 2014 08 14 . buckley sean . leap motion s next sensor is designed specifically for virtual reality . engadget . aol . http www.roadtovr.com ces 2015 leap motion co founders talk dragonfly made vr motion input camera ben lang . leap motion 3d jam dev contest offers 75k in prizes for leap based experiences starts october 19th road to vr . road to vr . lyra vr puts music synthesis within virtual reach . www.gizmag.com . retrieved 2016 04 18 . a b scott hayden . winners of leap motion 3d jam game jam contest announced road to vr . road to vr . leap motion announces orion for faster more accurate vr hand tracking vrfocus . vrfocus . retrieved 2016 04 18 . asus partners up with leap motion . leap motion seals hp deal to embed gesture control technology . terdiman daniel 2013 12 09 . hp embeds leap motion gesture control tech in 11 computers . cnet . retrieved 2013 12 09 . in september hp said it was incorporating leap motion s tech into the envy 17 laptop making it the first manufacturer to build the system directly into a computer . this time around however hp is embedding the system into stand alone keyboards as well as into laptops . all told the leap motion system will be included in eight hp desktop all in one machines and three new desktop pcs . chacos brad 2013 12 06 . hp embeds leap motion gesture controller in 11 desktop and all in one pcs . pcworld . retrieved 2013 12 09 . leap motion works on any computer and you can buy the standalone hardware for 80 at best buy stores or online at