I was big into experimental interfaces in around 2006. There was a similar peripheral for the Mac whose name escapes me. (I only ever saw marketing material for it.)
It had a sensor to detect the depth and positions of your hands above your desk. Its software would then cast a hand-shaped shadow on your screen, so you could see what you were about to interact with. The UI was like a touchscreen, but you'd abstract the touching away from the displaying for ergonomics.
It was a cool concept. Bummed it never went anywhere. Sprout could be interesting, but it would be a lot more interesting if it came from a brand that moved platforms (like Apple). I don't know if HP has the developer mindshare (or sales volume) to have a "revolutionary" product that people get excited about. There are too many other Windows machines (both inside and outside HP) for this to get the attention it deserves.
In my opinion it's no better than a touchscreen because you have to wave your hands in the air which is more work than keeping it on a desk. I wouldn't buy it.
I think Leap still has huge potential (mainly commercial) but unfortunately not as a general purpose UI device. In fact, it's much worse than a touchscreen for all 2-D situations (ie, pretty much everything that's being represented on a flat screen).
Nope. I think the one I'm thinking of had a green website with a photo of a MacBook and a grey tablety thing that detected your hands. This was long before Leap was a thing.
I think the tablety-thing was an L shaped touchpad, where the depth sensors were in the | part of the L.
It had a sensor to detect the depth and positions of your hands above your desk. Its software would then cast a hand-shaped shadow on your screen, so you could see what you were about to interact with. The UI was like a touchscreen, but you'd abstract the touching away from the displaying for ergonomics.
It was a cool concept. Bummed it never went anywhere. Sprout could be interesting, but it would be a lot more interesting if it came from a brand that moved platforms (like Apple). I don't know if HP has the developer mindshare (or sales volume) to have a "revolutionary" product that people get excited about. There are too many other Windows machines (both inside and outside HP) for this to get the attention it deserves.