Unity is the chosen virtual reality (VR) development platform for Leap Motion capabilities, and in order to build for the company that manufactures motion sensing hardware you will need Unity 5.3.Using this version of Unity, Leap Motion has now released a new Unity Core Asset which extends the hardware’s capabilities with the newest features, including detecting hand gestures such as giving a thumbs up.

Leap Motion calls the new features “Detectors”, and what they do is provide a way to register what a user’s hand is doing. The detectors can tell if fingers are being curled or extended, whether a finger or palm is point in a certain direction, and if a hand or fingertip is close to one of the in-game targeted objects. These dececters, in addition to pinches, can be combined together using a “Logic Gate”. These Logic Gates can combine two or more detectors, meaning that in order to give a thumbs up it can recognise that the user is both extending their thumb and point it upwards to create the gesture.

With detectors users can trigger Unity events, meaning it will become easier to hook up objects and scripts without writing a line of code. Each detector is designed to be a building block that can eventually be put together to make something else more interesting.

In addition to the detectors and pinch recognisers, Leap Motion has said that a grab detector will soon be on its way, so this could possibly be something to look out for the next release of Unity Core Assets.

In order to find the latest release, including PinchDetector, check out the Unity Core Assets. Leap Motion also provides Detection Examples to illustrate how to use the detectors.

For the latest development from Leap Motion and Unity, as well as all news and updates from the world of VR make sure to check back with VRFocus.

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