Not the most confidence-inspiring way to start off our Leap experience.

Gorman Numeson July 22nd, 2013 In this article: leapmotion, motioncontrol, review, TL19LEAP, video.

And, ever since we first got to see what the Leap Motion controller could do -- grant folks the ability to interact with a computer by waving their fingers and fists -- weve wanted one of our own to test out.

Well, our wish was granted: weve gotten to spend several days with the controller and a suite of apps built to work with it.

Does the device really usher in a new age of computing Is it worth 80 of your hard-earned cash Patience, dear reader, all will be revealed in our review.Gallery-194274.

Its just over three inches long, an inch wide and less than a half-inch thick (79 x 30 x 11mm), with a glossy black panel on top, behind which resides the infrared sensors.

On the bottom, youll find a black rubber panel embossed with the Leap Motion logo.

The edge, meanwhile, is ringed with a seamless aluminum band, save for a USB 3.0 Micro-B port on the left side (though the device runs at USB 2.0 speeds).

Theres also a slim LED power status indicator on the front edge.

Alas, as of this writing, the company wasnt able to reveal more specifics about the internals themselves, thanks to pending patent considerations.

Along with the controller itself, users get a pair of USB 3.0 cables in the box -- a 5-foot and a 2-foot cord.

Leap works using infrared optics and cameras instead of depth sensors, and does not cover as large an area as Microsofts gestured controller.

Leap does its motion sensing at a fidelity unmatched by any depth camera currently available: it can track all 10 of your fingers simultaneously to within a hundredth of a millimeter with a latency lower than the refresh rate on your monitor.

Leap Motion Touchless Software Built To

Of course, that tracking ability isnt just about the hardware, and the capabilities of the Leap are only realized by the software built to work with it.

Simply plug one end into the laptop, the other into the controller and position it in a location where it can see your hands; in front of a laptop or between a desktop keyboard and screen generally works.

Once youre plugged in, youll see the green LED on the front of the device and the infrared LEDs beneath the top plate come to life.

Leap Motion Touchless Download Includes Both

That download includes both a diagnostic and status program (for reporting bugs and re-calibrating the device when necessary) and the software portal from whence most Leap-friendly apps will come.

As we noted when we first saw Airspace demoed, its a bifurcated portal composed of the Airspace Store on the web (where you acquire new apps) and the local Airspace Home (a launcher for any and all Leap-compatible apps).

When you buy an app in the Airspace Store, Home detects that purchase and proceeds to download it automatically.Gallery-194275.

Naturally, with such a large library of software at launch, we were unable to test every app in the Airspace Store.

However, we did spend time with quite a few apps for both Windows and OS X.

That confetti moves as if suspended in water, and it changed from white to glowing yellow and orange hues as we virtually swept our hands through it.

Next, we were prompted to draw glowing white marks using our fingers, and, finally, we were shown a futuristic animated wireframe of our hands that included the individual joints of our fingers and tracked our movements.

Leap Motion Touchless For Mac