Dasher with Leap Motion

[LM_TimeDoctor]

Already discussed in the old forums, Dasher is a different method of input that might work well for Leap Motion Controller use:

This is the homepage, the original URL (dasher.org.uk) is unavailable. http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/DasherSummary2.html

[chetan]

I'm on the Developer Relations team here at Leap and think there's a lot of potential here. It would allow people with disabilities a new way to write on their computer and it could be very useful once Leap comes to televisions and entertainment centers.

I recently spoke with the professor who originally created Dasher, and if there's anyone interested in adapting this for Leap, he would be happy to serve in an advisory capacity.

[NO2]

It's an interesting interface, but maybe the Leap can use a graphical interface that is a bit different (three-dimensional maybe or just two-dimensional rather, as opposed to one dimensional, so just up or down). I thought a bit about it, but I think you can probably enter text a lot faster (in other words, forget Dasher, "swype" rules) via the "swype" method. Google's more recent android keyboard enables such gesture typing and is open source, licensed by the Apache 2.0 license, which even allows it to be used in commercial projects.

I've been looking for someone who might be interested in working with me on that. If I found someone I may consider doing it after all. I don't think there's that much of a market at the moment. It would rather be an investment into the future.

Who knows, maybe Leap would even want to invest some resources into said project (programmer (GUI?), architecture understanding, money)

[tylerz]

I believe I have something far better for to be released shortly. My app will work for a diverse set of circumstances and preferences and it covers what NO2 is suggesting as well. I have a working version for OS X but am in the process of polishing it up, and I will be porting it to Windows shortly.

I have tried dasher in the past. There may be some circumstances of disability where its continuous flow without change of direction may be preferred versus a swipe style that requires fine motor control.

I am open to hearing feature requests.

Tyler

[NO2]

I am ultra interested in any text entry method. I'd even help out if I really felt it was competitive with "swype" or even just better than the current options. It's hard to request features if one doesn't know what it is, but if it's text input, then thats good enough for me. It's perfectly understandable, that it's methods need some secrecy before release.

Question: Could one program with it too?

[tylerz]

@NO2: I guarantee it is far better than current options. And yes, I have considered how it could be used for programming and as much as I have not tried using it yet for that, its design should make a compelling case for exploring that. It has been a dream of mine for years to bring visual 3D programming to life one day, and this type of input is a step in supporting that. I will be really interested in your feedback for the app, especially with your practical need for touchless typing.

[NO2]

I'd be glad to help any way I can. Either now or at it's release.

[haisonggu]

I think using Leap motion for Dasher project is a good idea too. However, based on my experiment with Leap, it is hard for Leap to detect fingers when the hand is close to the whiteboard. Can you explain why?
thanks

[NO2]

Thats just how the tracking is. They will eventually introduce table mode, with should change that.

[svjacob]

Hey LM Time Doctor,

I'm a developer for Minuum Keyboard and recently I've worked on an interaction with Leap Motion, it seems to be an effective simple way to type.

Our keyboard is 1 Dimensional and that's why we think it can be fast and easy.

Watch the video, let me know what you think!

Minuum Keyboard + Leap Motion = Typing Easily

[LM_TimeDoctor]

Looks super cool, excited to try it out