Taiwan team wins Leap Motion app contest

2016/02/15

Taipei City-based Metanaut Limited is winner of the Leap Motion 3-D Jam competition for excellence in virtual reality music apps.

Comprising Dilun Ho, Peter Kao, Andrew Lee and Jean Marais, the team beat out 187 submissions from 89 countries and territories to claim a cash prize of US$10,000. The annual contest is organized by U.S.-based Leap Motion Inc., a leading developer in motion control.

It is the first time for a local startup supported by the Institute for Information Industry to claim top honors for the augmented and virtual reality category in the event.

The team’s interactive app Lyra provides users with an immersive, new way to compose and interact with music. Geometric objects, of which each represents a sound, appear on the virtual reality screen. By touching, linking and sliding the items, users can create chords, melodies and music sequences for spectacular audio, visual and sensory experience.

III Executive Vice President Gary J. W. Gong, who doubles as Director of Digital Content Industry Promotion Office under the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs, said the honor reaffirms the effectiveness of policies aimed at promoting app development in niche markets.

“We will continue backing such creative and innovative groups while encouraging them to take part in similar competitions around the world,” Gong said. “We also look forward to seeing this technology applied in Taiwan’s gaming, livecasting and tourism industries.”

Launched in 2014, the competition aims to increase exposure for cutting-edge apps offering experiences in augmented and virtual reality, as well as other platforms from desktop and mobile to the Internet of Things.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=242107&ctNode=2194&mp=9)