A foldaway user interface could bring new levels of productivity to AR workspaces.
With Leap Motion’s Project North Star set to hit the streets in the coming months, the American-based hand-tracking depth sensor manufacturer has officially begun teasing the various ambitious design concepts made possible by the open source AR development kit.
In a series of posts made to the official Leap Motion Twitter account, the company gave a behind-the-scenes sneak peek at a user interface referred to as the “augmented office.” Using a series of interactive windows, users can build their ideal augmented workspace in which they control the layout and information displayed using their own two paws.
Based on the short video, moving your hands over a thin white bar projected at the edge of the desk creates a collapsible window which you can then pick up and move to any desired location. This includes floating in midair and, thanks to Leap Motion’s impressive depth tracking technology, lying flat on the surface of your desk.
Another day at the augmented office. Our latest foray into #AR design with #ProjectNorthStar makes your entire world interactive. pic.twitter.com/SB8SNidbCG
— LeapMotion (@LeapMotion) April 24, 2018
“While we’re excited to share the hardware behind our AR work, it’s the experience that matters most,” stated Leap Motion in a tweet. “Over the next few weeks we will be releasing blog posts and videos charting our discoveries and reflections to help drive the conversation around the nature of this new world.”
“Right now our work in AR is extremely early, and there are many steps between prototyping and product. We’re interested in inclusive design and accessibility, but given that we don’t plan on releasing our own.”
Equally impressive is the tracking quality of the augmented windows. Each display appears to have a satisfying density to them, in turn generating a more realistic sense of motion when controlled by the user.
Leap Motion’s upcoming Project North Star open source augmented reality headset development kit features a 100-degree field of view, low latency, and high resolution all starting at a base price under $100.
