HP Envy 17 Leap Motion: tested in humans

For the next test, we got a laptop from HP - on the Core i7, with 8 gigabytes of RAM and a terabyte "screw", equipped with two video cards. Here is a 17.3-inch glossy touchscreen. Good, powerful laptop. But no more than that. Why was he in our review? - intrigue! - because this is the first laptop with a built-in Leap Motion controller. Are you still using the keyboard, mouse, or, sorry God, the touchpad? Then we go to you!..

Leap Motion technology — or simply Leap — was first talked about in mid-2012. Prior to this, the creators kept mum about their own offspring and collected money for investors. What they did pretty well with - a year later, Leap started distributing to developers for free, and then selling to everyone.

The gadget itself is outwardly unpretentious. The principle of its operation is also simple - and very similar to Kinect, with which it is constantly compared. Alas, no magic - inside there are only two monochrome infrared cameras and three LEDs - also infrared. "There" it costs a little less than $ 100, including shipping; we have 4-5 thousand rubles.
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What is in it, in this Leap? Yes, just his accuracy of motion recognition is an order of magnitude greater than Kinect. The difference is only in the radius of action: in the Microsoft controller - meters, in Leap - centimeters.

Today, Leap Motion is mainly promoted by enthusiasts - this is thanks to them the gadget, for example, has learned to control quadrocopters and even robots. But there is an exception - and here we return to our laptop.

In general, in 2013, two companies ASUS and HP announced their desire to integrate Leap Motion controllers into laptops. It seems that the Taiwanese have changed their plans, but Hewlett-Packard kept her word - a half-year-old Envy with Leap Motion came on board six months ago.



Between times - HP Envy 17 in inches, gigahertz and terabytes
screen: 17.3 '', 1920x1080, touch
Core i7 4702MQ 2.2 GHz processor
Video: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (+ integrated Intel HD 4600)
RAM: 8 GB (DDR3L)
HDD: 1 TB
Interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth, 4x USB 3.0, HDMI, LAN
battery: 62 Wh
dimensions, weight: 416x275,2x33,4 mm, 3.4 kg

In no way, we asked HP for clarification: was it worth it to fuss, i.e. embed the innovation module without asking the users - do they need it?

According to Irina Kukina, head of HP consumer devices in Russia, the company saw in Leap Motion the evolution of user communication with its PC - there is a progressive development of technology from mouse to touchpad, touch screen and further along the list.

At the end of 2013, the company promised to build Leap Motion into several of its devices - they will be available during this year. In the meantime, you can purchase Leap Motion separately, released in partnership with HP.



When asked whether any research was conducted - how much more interesting is the buyer’s laptop with Leap Motion than without it, Irina Kukina replied that “at the moment it’s quite difficult to talk about some qualitative research, because there are not many such devices sold This is just the beginning. ”Naturally, it takes time to understand the advantages and / or disadvantages of such devices. Well, we'll see.

In our opinion, laptops with built-in Leap Motion have a rather narrow niche, but HP believes that at the initial stage this is quite explicable: “Users are still represented by lovers of innovation, technology, something new. But here we see both young people and families with children. For example, there are a lot of games that can be played using Leap Motion - children and even adults will be very fun, ”the HP representative answered our doubts.

According to Irina Kukina, she herself tried Leap in action: “This is unusual and rather unusual, which is normal for any new technology. We need to rebuild the brain a little and everything starts to turn out. ”



When you watch videos on Leap Motion, a thought arises: well, everything - “Minority Report” is already here - do you remember such a film with Tom Cruise? At Spielberg it looked well, very tasty - and what about us? Overall, funny. The sensations are quite unusual and if you perceive the learning process as a game, then everything will work out for you. But if you in anger adore throwing various objects, if you suffer with hand tremor, if “assiduous” and “patient” is not about you, but about some kind of supermen, then ... well, his, this Leap Motion! Forget it!

In fact, a number of strange features in the behavior of the controller is associated with its principle of operation. There is a set of unwritten rules that should be followed:

• Leap radius of action - within 20-40 centimeters from the sensor;
• the controller quite confidently recognizes individual fingers, but you should not connect them;
• you shouldn’t put your hand on the edge - Leap will accept such a gesture as one finger
• if two hands are used, they should not overlap, otherwise the system will go insane;
• keep away from heating devices - any source of infrared radiation, even a regular iron - can confuse the controller;
• In addition to the limbs, you can use improvised means - for example, the same Japanese-Chinese sticks.

Where to get applications? The Leap developers didn’t philosophize slyly and launched their own online store Airspace. It is not worthwhile to drop in here incorrigible pessimists - there are only about 200 applications, and the number of free ones is a little less than half. The cost of a separate program or utility ranges from 1 to 10 dollars. There are applications under Windows, there are under Mac OS, there are working in any browser. Essentially, Airspace is a Google Play or App Store in miniature. Here you can find everything - from silly toys to professional applications, but the number of real pearls can be counted on fingers.



And what, you ask: take-not take? Definitely take it - if you like everything new, if you are calm and balanced, and your biceps, triceps, forearms are at least in tone, try holding your hands in front of you for 10-15 minutes, turning your fingers. The price of a laptop with built-in Leap Motion starts at 45,000 rubles. Models from Asus, MSI and the same HP, similar to the stuffing, but without the “Lipa” cost from 35 to 42 thousand. But without the "linden". If in doubt, write to us in the comments to the post or YouTube-video and we will share our own experience.