Leap Motion Showcase Latest Design Updates for Project North Star
Better known for its hand-tracking technology, Leap Motion delved into augmented reality (AR) headset design in 2018 announcing Project North Star. Designed as an open source reference for developers to create their own headset, Leap Motion has recently the latest major design update, further improving the overall build and look of the project.
The new design has seen a range of adjustments to the frame and build, with one of the most important being a new facial interface, allowing the headsets optics to ‘float’ as the company calls it in front of the users face. This is achieved by the headset only touching the user’s forehead, enabling glasses to be used with Project North Star for the first time.
The image above indicates all the new adjustments Leap Motion has made to Project North Star, solving previous issues such as the optics bracket sliding away from the face occasionally. A one-way brake mechanism has been mounted to each side which allows the headset to be slid towards a users face, but not outwards unless the brake release is held.
The Leap Motion Blog goes on to explain another neat little improvement, and that’s how they made curved sections stronger: “Finally, a little trick we developed for this headgear design: bending 3D prints. An ideal VR/AR headset is light yet strong, but 3D prints are anisotropic – strong in one direction, brittle in another. This means that printing large thin curves will likely result in breaks.
“Instead, we printed most of the parts flat. While the plastic is still warm from the print bed, we drape the plastic over a mannequin head. A few seconds later, the plastic cools enough to retain the curved shape. The end result is very strong while using very little plastic.”
As it has been from the start Project North Star is an open-source project, with advancements coming from Leap Motion’s San Francisco tech hub as well as the open source community. If you want to get involved with the project simply head to the Project North Star GitHub. to download all the relevant materials. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
https://www.vrfocus.com/2019/01/leap-motion-showcase-latest-design-updates-for-project-north-star/
