Leap Motion Gets $50 Million in Funding for AR/VR Tracking

Company wants to expand acceptance of its hand and finger tracking hardware and software.

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AR and VR hand tracking developer Leap Motion has secured an extra $50 million in funding as it looks to expand acceptance of its hardware and software technology.

The investment from J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Private Equity Group will allow leap Motion to move into Asia and open and office in Shanghai, China. It also plans to try to broaden the adaptation of its hand and finger tracking technology into the fields of health care, education and industrial training simulations, the company said. 

“Natural input through full hand tracking is inseparable and fundamental to the future of VR/AR, and Leap Motion is a principal driver of its widespread adoption,” Leap Motion CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald said in a press release. “In much the same way as the touchscreen sparked the mobile revolution, Leap Motion is playing a transformative role in the development of human interface technology for VR/AR. As a result, the industry as a whole is on the verge of a similar moment of exponential growth.”

Leap Motion's VR tracking technology, dubbed Orion, has been integrated in Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 VR development kit for mobile, which is expected to be released through the Qualcomm Developer Network sometime this quarter.

 

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