Leap Motion released an update for its Orion beta client and SDK that it said addresses stability issues related to the Leap Motion services and the Unity development platform that have been observed in the field.
The Orion Beta version 3.1.1+39958 includes a fix for a crash error that would occur when the auto-orientation function of the Leap Motion controller triggers after disconnecting and reconnecting the device. The company said it also addresses a couple of problems relating to the Unity Editor, including one where the Leap Motion service would stop communicating with the control panel when Unity is closed, and an issue where unity would crash upon editing a script with Leap Motion services running in the scene.
This version of Orion also restores some functions that weren't working in the last release, but previously were. The company said that the "Report Software" button in the troubleshooting section of the Leap Motion software is working again, as is the "Manual Device Orientation" button in the control panel.
Leap Motion also said it made changes to what is recorded in the log file. It added reports for device orientation, and when the sensor is switched between HMD and desktop mode.
Leap Motion's Orion software is currently in active development. Bugs will be fixed over time, but as with any beta software, the current list is fairly long. The current version of Orion has the following known issues to look out for:
Some poses are not currently tracked as well as V2; this can be seen in the form of occasional bad initialization/reinitialization, right/left misinterpretation, and wrong posesThe skeleton hand can shift slightly away from the hand as you move left or right; most noticeable in apps that use Image Hands and also display the skeletal handsTracking may not work as well with bracelets, watches, sleeves, etcAlthough very much improved, occluded hands can still get killed at timesDevices embedded in HP laptops and keyboards are not supported on OrionHand confidence is currently always 1.0 and does not fluctuate; a new solution is on the horizonTools are not currently supported in OrionAutomatic controller orientation can in rare cases stop functioning. A Leap Motion service restart will fix this or you can manually orient the controller from the Leap Motion Control Panel.Tracking along the x-axis may appear slightly skewedDesktop mode initialization is not as reliable as HMD mode initializationPausing/Resuming Tracking can cause the FPS to drop. The workaround is to disconnect and then reconnect the device to bring the FPS back to normalSerialized invalid frames are marked as valid when deserializedImages cannot be extracted from serialized framesAvast! Antivirus can interfere with Leap Motion Service installation (disable shields to work around)The latest version of the Oculus firmware limits bandwidth for the DK2’s built-in USB port, which harms the controller’s performance. For now, we recommend using the free cable extender bundled with the mount to connect the controller directly to the computerTracking performance may degrade when closely facing large reflective surfaces like white walls or infrared-reflective curtains.Minimized or out-of-focus applications using the HMD policy flag can affect the service state. Close such programs before switching back to non-VR apps
The latest update to the Orion beta can be found on the Leap Motion website, but if you have the software already, it has an update feature built-in. The complete release notes can be found here.
Follow Kevin Carbotte @pumcypuhoy. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.
