Leap and T(ether): Our Minority Report Future Draws Ever Nearer

Interesting things are happening on the gestural/spatial computer interaction front. First up, Leap Motion garnered a lot of buzz a week or two ago. This little brick hangs out next to your computer and allows you to interact with it by tracking your gestures. It seems to be tracking movements at an incredibly high-resolution, too, as seen in this demo:

An SDK and app store are in the works, promising lots of fun stuff will be readily available when the Leap Motion ships at the end of the year.

T(ether), from the MIT Media Lab is an iPad-based 3D object manipulation and animation tool. Using motion capture and the built-in cameras on the iPad, it offers immersive interaction with the 3D data, and even allows multiple people to collaboratively edit the same virtual environment. The video explains it better than I ever could:

While you can pre-order the Leap Motion for the grand sum of $70, the T(ether) appears to be still in the concept phase. The future is here, man.