He shot me. After a good eight seconds of flailing, grabbing, and poking at the air above my desk, Frank Welty finally unholstered his sidearm and put me out of my misery. Alas, it was only a game, but I never really stood a chance. My shooter, which in this case was my pointer finger, hadn't hit a damn thing all day.
我中枪了。我在桌子上朝空气又抓又砸又戳地比划了八秒钟，弗兰克•威尔提终于掏出手枪把我干掉了。幸好这只是一场游戏，但是我却连一点取胜的机会都没有。我的枪——在这场游戏中就是我的食指，一整天都没有击中任何东西。
The game, Fast Iron, is just one of dozens of apps available for the newly launched Leap Motion Controller. A peripheral that lets users control their computer through hand gestures, this device showed plenty of promise when it was announced in May 2012. Now, more than a year later, the $79 product has come to market, and after a week of feeling it out, it's hard to point a finger at what exactly is wrong with gesture-based computing, at least in its current state.
这款射击游戏Fast Iron》只是最近上市的Leap Motion体感控制器的众多游戏应用里的一款。Leap Motion是一种可以让用户通过手势控制电脑的外围设备.2012年5月，它刚刚发布的时候，的确带给人很多期待。现在一年多过去了，这款79美元的设备也终于正式投放市场。试用一周之后，以它目前的情况看，这种体感控制技术倒是说不出有什么问题。
Setting up the Leap Motion Controller was unexpectedly easy. I had imagined having to input measurements like the controller's distance to the screen, or heeding requirements like keeping the device at a certain height, but none of that was necessary. Other than downloading a software suite, the peripheral was more-or-less plug-and-play, the unit powered and connected to my Mac via a USB cable.
安装Leap Motion体感控制器的过程出乎意料地简单。我还以为必须得把这个体感控制器放在离屏幕一定距离的地方才行，要么就是必须得把这款设备放在一定的高度上，但事实证明这些都没必要。而且也不必下载额外的软件，算是一款即插即玩型的设备，我通过一个USB接口就把它连接到了我的Mac上。
The Leap Motion software involved minimal hand-holding, and gave the impression that gesture-based controls would be easy to master, with the sensor seeming to pick up each finger and hand rotation cleanly. But the program's lack of finish caught my eye -- running on my Mac, the software's full-screen capability resized all my other applications windows (a huge annoyance), and its graphics looked choppy, almost like they were low-resolution. The device couldn't detect my hands shaking with worry over these concerns, but in hindsight, they were clear indicators of a lack of finish that would plague my experience with the controller.
安装Leap Motion的软件也没什么难度，而且给人的感觉就是手势控制似乎很好掌握，似乎传感器可以很清楚地捕捉每个手指的运动。但是软件的完善程度很不够，让我大跌眼镜——在我的Mac上运行的时候，它的全屏功能自行调节了所有其它应用窗口的大小，这一点非常讨厌。而且图像也不太稳定，感觉就像分辨率很低一样。想到这里，我心烦地摆了摆手，但是这款设备却没有探测到这个动作。事后来看，这说明它灵敏度欠缺。这个缺点可能会影响我对这款体感控制器的体验。
For example, as I continued pawing through the device's compatible software, poor graphics soon became the least of Leap Motion's problems. The company's Airspace Store, a proprietary app marketplace that sells third-party created software for the device, offers users a mix of free and paid apps for both Macs and PCs. The selection is mostly games, but there are learning and productivity titles already in the mix that show the range of what the Leap Motion Controller can do.
比如说，就在我选择能与这款设备兼容的软件的时候，我发现图像效果不佳反倒成了这款设备最小的问题。这款设备有一个专门的Airspace Store网络商城，主要销售各种第三方开发者针对这款设备开发的软件。其中有免费的也有付费的，既可用于苹果的Mac，也可用于普通PC。它们大部分是游戏，但也有一些学习和工作软件，表明了Leap Motion体感控制器能够用于哪些用途。
The first app I tried out was Swoosh. Upon launching the program, my computer totally freaked out, as if I was using the Leap to shadow box. At the same time, iTunes mysteriously launched and started playing the first movie file in my library (Anchorman, if you must know), blasting Swoosh's music over the video. This happened every time I launched the third-party title, until finally I figured out the problem. Swoosh is a deejaying app that plays music from your iTunes library, and users can "spin" and "scratch" the tracks like a record with the Leap Motion Controller. I only discovered this after locating the app's missing full-screen window, which for some unknown reason had been minimized. And when I finally loaded a song from my library into the software, the controls were unresponsive and unpredictable. I couldn't do much of anything with it, except for throw my hands up and walk away.
我尝试的第一个软件叫Swoosh。在打开这个程序之后，我的电脑完全乱套了，就好像我在用Leap Motion打太极一样。与此同时，我的iTunes突然神秘地开始播放我的影音库里的第一个电影【如果你一定想知道是什么电影的话，告诉你吧，是《王牌播音员》（Anchorman）】。然后Swoosh 的音乐也响了起来。我每次在Swoosh上打开一个第三方影音文件都会出现这种问题。后来我才明白问题出在哪。Swoosh是一款DJ应用，可以播放用户的iTunes里的音乐，用户可以用手势“转唱片”、“打碟”。但在我搞懂这个问题之前又出现了另一个问题，那就是找不到这款应用的全屏窗口了，它不知道为什么被最小化了。后来我终于成功地把影音库里的一首歌导到了这款软件里，但是它对我的手势要么毫无反应，要么就是给出让人意外的反应。我没办法，只好举手投降。
That experience became a familiar one as I continued testing the device. I downloaded Frog Dissection, and managed to somehow zip open a virtual reptile using "wax on, wax off" gestures à la Karate Kid. I fiddled with Flocking, a visualization app that looks great but bores quickly, with simulated fish swimming to bits of light controlled by my fingers. I pinched and zoomed through the virtual universe with Exoplanet but had a heck of a time touching the stars. (Imagine trying to poke a pin with a wet noodle -- it will make you reconsider any belief that God sticks his fingers in our tiny earthly concerns.). Meanwhile, another visualization app, Gravilux, worked as well as it does on other platforms (Android, iOS, Mac, and PC). Its developer, Scott Snibbe, also ported his iOS-based music app, OscilloScoop, to the Leap platform, proving perhaps that the controller's problems are more about software execution than anything else.
随着我继续测试这款设备，这种现象也越来越常见。然后我下载了一款叫“解剖青蛙”的应用，然后像《功夫小子》一样用手上戳下戳，终于解剖了一只青蛙。然后我又花时间玩了一款叫Flocking的虚拟化游戏，一群虚拟的小鱼会随着你的手指移动。游戏看起来虽然不错，但是很快就让人觉得无聊了。然后我又下载了一个叫Exoplanet的应用，它可以让你缩放一个虚拟的宇宙，我在触摸点选星星上花了很多时间。（想象一下用一根湿面条戳中一个针尖的难度——它让你不禁怀疑，上帝究竟是否也会花这么多时间关心地球上的琐事。）另一款名叫Gravilux的应用的表现则和它在其它平台（Android、iOS、Mac和PC）上的表现一样好。这款应用的开发者斯科特•斯尼博也把另一款基于iOS的音乐应用OscilloScoop上传到了Leap平台上。这证明了比起其它因素，Leap Motion的问题可能更多在于软件的执行上。
While the Leap Motion's games are underwhelming, there's no denying that entertainment plays an important role in emerging technology. Just like computer gamers from the 1980s and 1990s evolved into the computer-savvy workforce at the 2000s tech boom, and the social media generation has matured into a crop of info-fueled workers today, forward-leaning products like the Leap Motion Controller have the potential to breed a future wave of dextrous, gesture hackers.
虽然Leap Motion上的游戏给人的印象不深，但是不能否认，这种娱乐方式的确在新兴科技中扮演了一个非常重要的角色。就像上世纪八九十年代的电脑玩家进化成了2000年以来科技爆炸时代的电脑人才，以及社交媒体一代的年轻人进化成了今天擅于利用资讯的劳动者一样，像Leap Motion体感控制器这样的产品也有潜力孕育一批“手势极客”
And though it is nowhere near as powerful (or expensive) as Microsoft's (MSFT) Kinect sensor, the Leap Motion Controller did detect every movement -- to a fault. If I pointed my finger out, the device often detected my thumb, too. If I was wearing my Nike+ (NKE) Fuelband, it would think the bracelet's shiny metal clasp was another, mystery finger. Still, as an everyday Mac user, I am jealous of the Windows 8 touch interface, and I had hoped to use the Leap Motion as a smear-free touchscreen to drive my Apple (AAPL) computer -- if only I could adjust to its overactive sensors.
虽然Leap Motion还不像微软的Kinect体感设备那样强大（当然也没有那么贵），但是Leap Motion的确能探测到用户的任何活动，甚至灵敏得有点过头。如果我把手指伸出来，它经常也会同时感应到我的大拇指。如果我戴着我的Nike+腕带的话，它会认为这个腕带的闪闪发光的金属扣是我的另一根神秘的手指。还有就是作为一个Mac用户，我非常羡慕Windows8的界面，我甚至想把Leap Motion当成一个无须接触的触摸屏，用来操纵我的苹果电脑。当然，前提是我能调整一下它那过于灵敏的传感器。
To run the Mac operating system, Airspace offers two apps: Touchless for Mac (they have a PC equivalent, too) and Better Touch Tool. Both free programs, Touchless was made by Leap Motion, while Better Touch Tool was developed by German indie coder Andreas Hegenberg. Touchless consists of two zones, one for "hovering" (or moving the cursor) and the other for "touching" (or clicking the mouse). Using it was precise but awkward, akin to trying to use an iPhone with magnetic gloves. Sure, you can do it, but it wasn't really meant to work like that. The Mac operating system's buttons were too small to be pressed with a finger, let alone a quivering, airborne ghost digit that's as fat as a hot dog. After about a half hour of trying to acclimate to the system, I finally gave the software the finger (totally undetected!) and went back to my trusty mouse.
为了用Leap Motion来控制Mac操作系统，Airspace商城还专门提供了两款应用，一款叫Touchless for Mac（这款应用也有一个PC版），另一款叫（Better Touch Tool），两款应用都是免费的。Touchless是由leap Motion公司推出的，后者则是由德国独立编程师安德里斯•海根伯格开发的。Touchless包含两个区域，一个是用来“悬停”（或移动光标）的，另一个是用来“触摸”（或点击鼠标）的。使用这款应用虽然很精确，但是有些尴尬，感觉就好像是在戴着一双磁性的手套使用iPhone一样。当然你可以那么做，但是它生来就不是为了这样用的。Mac操作系统的按钮实在太小了，用一根手指去按很费劲，更别说伸在空中的一根颤巍巍的、像香肠那么粗的胖手指了。我花了大约大半小时适应这个系统，最后给了这款软件一个愤怒的中指（而它完全没检测出来），然后又用回了我最信赖的鼠标。
Better Touch Tool returned much improved results but still has a way to go. By turning actual gestures (bringing both hands together like a slow clap, for example) into keyboard shortcuts (close window, sleep, etc.) at last the Leap sprang to life. I programmed a slew of moves that made sense to me, such as three finger wag left as "back" in Safari, but when it came time to use them, I swear the device wasn't looking. Waving, I got nothing. Flicking, not a blip of recognition. Finally, I mimed choking the wretched thing, but my computer stared back, unamused.
Better Touch Tool的表现虽然稍好些，但仍然有很长的路要走。它可以让某些手势相当于键盘的快捷键（比如双手合什就是关掉窗口、睡眠的意思）。我设计了一些我认为合理的动作，比如用三根手指向左划动代表Safari的“返回”。但是等我真正使用的时候，我发誓这款设备根本没理我。我再挥手、滑动，也一样没有识别。最后，我对它做了一个掐脖子的动作，不过我的电脑还是沉默地盯着我，真没劲。
So, I've decided to wave goodbye to the Leap for now. Hopefully, the next time I plug it in, I can give it a thumbs up -- and maybe then, it will know exactly what I mean.
所以，我决定暂时跟Leap Motion说声再见。希望下次我再把它插到电脑上的时候，它可以让我对它翘起大拇指——说不定到时候，它已经能明白这是什么意思了。
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