Fly Around The World With Leap Motion And Google Earth
This article is more than 2 years old
Next month, the PC peripheral Leap Motion will be released, and it’s looking — and hoping — to change your computer behavior forever. It’s a tiny device, it’s hands-free, and it has already proven to be a remarkable innovation to such shitty time wasters as Fruit Ninja. A few months ago, Leap Motion released thousands of its prototypes to software developers, wanting a full line of apps available as soon as the product launches. And while many of the ones that have been shown so far were mostly predictable, I don’t think anyone saw this coming.
You can now fly around the planet like Superman, thanks to a partnering deal between Leap Motion and Google Earth. What are you wearing your underwear on the inside of your pants for? Grab your cape and check out the promotional video below.
Okay, so it isn’t exactly like flying around the Earth, but I’m thinking if you got an industrial-sized fan in front of you, that might add realism. I also have to question the description, which touts being about to “soar around San Francisco, the Grand Canyon, Paris, NYC, and more.” It’s the “and more” part that bugs me, because it makes me think that wanting to fly right out of the big city would be impossible, and the invisible wall of video game lore would stop you. I am in The Truman Show, am I not?
For those like me who are far too poor to ever dream of building flying suits that would allow me to travel the world without a plane — while also not being able to afford plane tickets anywhere — this collaboration could be a really fun way to explore from the comfort of one’s own home. Which takes about 80% of the fun out of it, but this all fits into “First World Problems” anyway, so let’s leave all complaints at the door to that one place we flew over in Tuscany.
You can also spin the planet around from a faraway vantage point, but that’s what globes do, so I’m kind of beyond that stage at this point.
How about a poll?
[yop_poll id=”14″]
