Leap Motion debuts next-gen VR hand tracking tech

Motion controller outfit Leap Motion has pulled back the curtain on Orion; new hand tracking tech built from the ground up to tackle the "unique challenges" presented by virtual reality. 

Leap Motion says that Orion is "part hardware, part software," and will allow users to interact with digital content with pinpoint precision by harnessing the power and complexity of the human hand. 

"[Orion] comes with a huge increase in the general capabilities of our tracking technology and a profound shift in the reliability guarantees of markerless motion tracking systems," said the company. 

"We’ve unlocked lower latency. Longer range. Better and faster hand recognition. Vastly improved robustness to cluttered backgrounds and ambient light. Even applications will be faster thanks to a new API that can be used initially in Unity."

The beta version of Orion is available right now on Windows, and comes with a number of demos built on Leap Motion's upcoming interaction engine.