Going between the keyboard and touchpad will not be necessary with Touch+

Aug 13, 2014 17:23 GMT  ·  By
Everyone knows the Leap – the small device that you set below your computer screen and you can set customized gestures to control your computer. Touch+ takes that idea to the next level. This device can turn any surface into a multitouch one. Whether it is your keyboard, the table, a projector screen or the floor, this device will recognize the gestures and turn them into actions on your screen.
 
Touch+ can be attached to your MacBook Air to benefit from its features on the go, or it can stay next to your desktop computer.
 
The device has been described as a personal companion for any computer. It is the first one to react to multitouch and natural hand gestures. You don't need a mouse, trackpad or a keyboard. Just touch the surface in front of it and it will register your gesture. It will feel like touching what you see on the screen, so basically you are turning your Mac into an iPad-like device. 
 
Touch+ has two normal cameras built-in. It sees your hands just like human eyes see them, and it will track the 3D position of your hand and fingertips. The device has invisible LEDs so it can work just as well in the dark. 
 
Talking about the features of Touch+, the developers have included a black anodized aluminum case, complete with a black glass front panel. It links to your computer via a USB 2.0 cable and connector. The cameras are VGA, so you can always turn them into a regular webcam. Touch+ stays on your computer no matter how thick the display is because it has a magnetic clip that can attach to anything. 
 
If you like it, you can preorder the device for $74.99 (€56.14). The device itself is black and the magnetic clip can be either white or blue.
 
If you are not a Mac user, Touch+ works with a Windows PC and the developers are building Linux support. It will be interesting to see if the developers will ship an iOS version of the device so you can control your iPad with hand gestures. The best thing about it is that Touch+ doesn't need any custom apps to work. Just unbox it, connect it to your computer and the system will "see it" as a mouse or trackpad. 
 
There are ways to create or install extensions to enable more features, but that is up to third-party developers. The company behind Touch+ has posted an open invitation for developers that want to join and create awesome stuff based on the Touch+ API.