At Leap Motion, we’re working to bring people and technology closer together by building a platform beyond the screen, designed for the original human interface – your hands. We’ve just taken another major step in this direction, with our V2 software pushed for free to devices around the globe.

Over the past 14 months, we’ve greatly appreciated our community’s time and feedback as our team overhauled and refined the core software. We’ve made significant progress since announcing the V2 developer beta in May, and we’re excited to release a build that comes much closer to our original vision of what the technology can be. If you haven’t already downloaded the new software, go to leapmotion.com/setup to get started.

The V2 software features several major advances – such as tracking individual fingerbones, massively improved resistance to ambient infrared light, and even the ability to track fingers when they’re hidden from the controller. Brought together, these features make it possible for you to reach into brand-new experiences like Robot Chess, Collider, and Form and Function 3D with fully realized virtual hands.

That being said, we’re still just scratching the surface, with many more exciting developments in the coming months. Our global 3D Jam competition launched on Sunday with over 500 teams ranging from indie startups to AAA developers, and we can’t wait to see what they’ll build over the next six weeks.

At the same time, we’re building on our new OS control app, Shortcuts, which is the first step towards a new approach to computer controls. Over the past year, we’ve discovered that our community uses the Leap Motion Controller to control their computers in many different ways. As a result, the current limited release focuses on a key set of core interactions and will continue to evolve towards a personalized experience.

The home computer is just the beginning as we build out the platform beyond the screen everywhere. Around the globe, developers and engineers are using our off-the-shelf technology in everything from automotive and medicine to robotics and AR/VR. While our head-mounted VR tracking beta is just one small waypoint along the road to truly immersive virtual reality, our device already makes it possible to blur the physical and digital worlds in profoundly new ways.

Our goal for the Leap Motion software has always been that it will equal (or even outperform) your eyes in distinguishing hands and fingers from the raw sensor imagery. While we’re not there yet, V2 is a major milestone on our journey, and we’re excited to work together with our developer community to push beyond the boundaries of platforms both old and new. Thank you for believing in the potential of our technology.