Leap Motion 3D motion-control device changes how we interact with computers
By Chenda Ngak

(CBS News) Move over Microsoft Kinect and touch-screen displays. Controlling your computer may soon be done without touching a keyboard, mouse or touch screen – thanks to a little device called the Leap.

Leap Motion, a San Francisco-based motion-control software and hardware company, unveiled a new way to control computers.

Using a USB connection, the device creates four cubic feet of space to interact with a computer. The controls are similar to using a touch screen computer in the air. But what’s more impressive is the accuracy that the Leap can measure.

Currently, Microsoft Kinect is the biggest player in the 3D motion-control technology. However, Kinect is not accurate enough to track handwriting. Leap Motion says the Leap is 200 times more sensitive than existing technologies.

“It was this gap between what’s easy in the real world but very complicated to do digitally, like molding a piece of clay or creating a 3D model, that inspired us to create the Leap and fundamentally change how people work with their computers,” Leap Motion chief executive officer and co-founder Michael Buckwald said in a press release.

“In addition to the Leap for computers, our core software is versatile enough to be embedded in a wide range of devices, including smartphones, tablets, cars and refrigerators. One day 3-D motion control will be in just about every device we interact with, and thanks to the Leap, that day is coming sooner than anyone expected.”

The Leap retails for $69.99 and is available for pre-orders now. The device will ship this winter.