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Leap Motion will find its way into OSVR virtual reality headsets this June

A snap-on faceplate will add 3D hand-tracking capabilities to the open-source VR headset's design, but you'll have to pay extra.

Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
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Scott Stein
2 min read

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The OSVR headset with Leap Motion faceplate attached. Leap Motion

We might be entering the Age of Inputs when it comes to VR.

Hand-sensing input technology company Leap Motion is now an official launch partner with OSVR , the open-source VR headset consortium backed by Razer, Sensics, and many others. Leap Motion has been working on integrating its hand-tracking motion-sensing tech with virtual reality technology over the last year, and even demonstrated the capability with OSVR back at CES in Las Vegas this past January. With OSVR, Leap Motion will be an attachable faceplate, offered as a separately purchased accessory or in a bundle with the Hacker Dev Kit VR headset this June.

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The hand-tracking technology works wirelessly within a short range. Leap Motion

Leap Motion started as a motion-sensing 3D input accessory for PCs , and eventually became embedded into some models of HP and Asus computers. Now, its best bet might be VR: Much like NimbleVR, an Oculus/Facebook acquisition that hasn't made its debut into any Oculus hardware yet, Leap Motion can sense hand movements and sense finger motions in three dimensions. According to Leap Motion's OSVR press release, the OSVR HDK headset will be the first in a "future lineup of head mounted displays that will feature Leap Motion's technology built in."