Leap Motion shows crazy-looking $100 North Star AR headset with hand tracking

Best known for its standalone hand-tracking accessory, Leap Motion announced today that it’s bringing gesture controls into an inexpensive augmented reality headset, hoping to kickstart widespread interest in AR. The company claims that the headset will cost less than $100 to produce at scale, despite having “technical specifications of a pair of augmented glasses from the future” and using “components from the next generation of VR systems.”

Dubbed Project North Star, the headset consists of two “ultra-bright, low-persistence” 1600 x 1440 translucent displays running at 120 frames per second, plus the company’s hand-tracking sensor. Collectively, the device promises to let users see virtual interface elements through an over 100-degree field of view in the screens, while tracking hand and finger movements in a wider 180-degree area.