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Hand tracking company Leap Motion has opened a new design reserach studio in London, the firm has announced. Heading up the studio is VR and AR filmmaker Keiichi Matsuda, who assumes the role of VP of design and global creative director.
The news comes just three months after the company revealed it had raised $50m to expand its worldwide operations. At the time, it said it planned to open a new office in Shanghai to further explore its hand and finger-tracking technology with education, healthcare and industrial training applications, but the new London studio will be used to build its team of creatives and engineers to focus on the core user experience for the next generation of mobile and all-in-one headsets.
“Virtual and augmented reality are at a critical point in their evolution,” said Michael Buckwald, Leap Motion CEO. “With the rapid adoption of VR/AR over the next few years within industries, and integration into how we live, work, and play – it is essential that we lay the groundwork for a magical user experience through a unified design philosophy.”
Matsuda added: “We can’t predict what everyday life will look like in the future. What we do know is that technology will completely transform the world. Exploring our potential futures has led me down some dark and exciting paths, from my AR concept work in 2010 to last year’s short film HYPER-REALITY, and my upcoming short, Merger.
"It is our responsibility to find a path through the dangers and challenges ahead, and construct a positive and inclusive vision of a world that we want to live in. I want to bring my experience in design and world-building to bring about this change.”
