Making magic: Top tips for creating gesture controlled apps

Gesture controlled apps have made a leap in the last year thanks to pioneering efforts from champions such as Jacob Pennock. Pennock is the creative force behind Head of the Order, a magic spell-casting game controlled entirely by players’ hand and finger movements.

Using the Intel RealSense SDK, Pennock and his team were able to track 22 points on players’ hands, fingers and joints. This allows players to craft and combine spells to cast during the game and defend themselves against spells aimed at them, all using their hands, creating an immersive game experience.

Based on his experiences building Head of the Order, Pennock offers some tips for developers wanting to take advantage of new gesture control features, including:

• Get outsiders to test your app – what seems intuitive for those involved in development or those who have tested previous iterations might be confusing for someone with no experience using your app;
• Ensure your app works for different generations – younger audiences may be comfortable with gesture control but detailed tutorials might be necessary for those more used to keyboard and mouse; and
• Think about your target devices – the Intel RealSense 3D camera is currently available in tablets, conventional and 2-in-1 laptops, and all-in-one PCs. The user experience might be different on each device.

For more details about how Head of the Order was developed, the challenges the team faced, videos of the gesture control in action and more tips from Pennock, take a look at this article. You can find further information about downloading and using the Intel RealSense SDK and how to reserve a RealSense camera to help build your own apps on the Intel Developer Zone too.

• This blog post is written by Softtalkblog, and is sponsored by the Intel Developer Zone, which helps you to develop, market and sell software and apps for prominent platforms and emerging technologies powered by Intel Architecture.