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Creating a powerful new input device for computers is hard, but not as hard as convincing people to ditch the mouse for something entirely new. Like, say, waving your hands in the air. You can either hand them out on street corner (bad idea), or bundle them with a computer maker. Leap Motion is doing the latter.

Imagine a Microsoft Kinect on steroids and you have a good idea of how Leap Motion works. The motion controller tracks in-air movement to 1/100th of a millimeter. But instead of watching you dance, the Leap creates 8 cubic feet of 3-D space that is recreated on the computer and can be interacted with via hands, pens or random objects you find lying around your home.

Eager to get people using its cool new product, Leap Motion announced Thursday that its 3-D motion controller will be bundled with Asus computers. The controller will ship with Asus all-in-ones and laptops that will have the Leap Motion app store pre-installed. The bundles and sold-alone Leap Motion controllers are expected to be available soon.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the Leap Motion on a Windows 8 machine is that the Live Tiles can be manipulated without having to touch a computer’s display. CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald told Wired, “In terms of the basic Windows 8 control experience, Leap can provide a better experience than a touchscreen.”

The Leap Motion will ship Windows 8 and OS X ready. Support for ARM devices including smartphones and tablets will be available in the future. 

source: wired