Leap Motion has officially set the new standard for how we use desktop devices.

On May 21, the motion-control software and hardware company announced its latest innovation - The Leap.

The world's most accurate 3-D motion control device is said to revolutionize the way users control their laptops and desktop computers.

Leap Motion's newest creation offers a motion control interaction space that will allow users to operate traditional desktop computer elements -- windows, folders and icons -- and interact with applications, using gestures made in the air.

By creating a three-dimensional interaction space, consisting of 4 cubic feet, The Leap controls the computer more precisely and quickly than a mouse or touchscreen, and as reliably as a keyboard, according to a statement released by Leap Motion.

Information Week's Thomas Claburn notes that the Leap device produces an infrared light that reflects off objects in the four-cubic foot visible to its sensors, much like Microsoft's Kinect.

Accordingly, The Leap device then interprets that data to direct the movement of objects on the screen of the connected computer.

It was this gap between what's easy in the real world but very complicated to do digitally, like molding a piece of clay or creating a 3-D model, that inspired us to create the Leap and fundamentally change how people work with their computers, Leap Motion CEO and co-founder Michael Buckwald said in a statement.

Leap Motion expects its Leap device to be useful for basic computing tasks like navigating an operating system or browsing through web pages, 2D or 3D drawing, manipulating 3D data visualization systems, and playing computer games, including first-person shooters like Rage and Call of Duty.

Based in San Francisco, Leap Motion is a motion-control software and hardware company that develops 3-D motion-control and motion-sensing technology.

The $70 device is slated to ship this winter, as Leap Motion says it has already begun accepting requests for free developer kits.

Introducing The Leap