Leap Motion hires former Apple director to lead its marketing team

Leap Motion today appointed Michael Zagorsek to the role of vice president of product marketing.

The motion-control technology firm brought Zagorsek on due to his experience at Apple as that company’s director of marketing communication. He’s leading Leap Motion’s efforts to bring The Leap gesture-control peripheral to market in 2013.

“Michael’s world-class experience launching innovative technology products in an online retail environment adds important strategic marketing leadership to the Leap Motion team as we grow our developer community and bring the Leap to market next year,” Leap Motion chief executive officer Michael Buckwald said. “We’re building an enduring company and brand that’s focused on revolutionizing personal computing, and Michael’s marketing leadership will be a cornerstone to Leap Motion’s growth and success.”

The Leap is a tiny sensor that you place under your hand so that you can gesture to interact with the screen. The device recognizes hand motion, finger waving, and even drawing in the air with a pencil. The hardware also recognizes commonly accepted movements like pinch-to-zoom. Leap Motion claims it is the most accurate 3D motion controller on the market.

It’s like a low-profile Kinect, Microsoft’s motion-sensing controller for the Xbox 360. The Leap can detect an object to within .01 millimeters of its real-world position.

“I’ve always been passionate about technology and innovation. The Leap is a breakthrough product that will remove barriers between people and their ability to interact and create in 3D digital environments. It also introduces a unique platform for Leap Motion to foster a strong and vibrant developer community empowered to create life-changing applications across entertainment, art, science, health, education, and so much more,” Zagorsek said. “I’m excited to join a deeply talented and passionate team to help bring the Leap to market and build a brand that fundamentally enhances people’s lives.”

Leap Motion plans to work with thousands of developers to build compatible software. It hopes to have the hardware working with all kinds of different software, including games. A sizzle reel (above) shows a player holding his hand out like a gun to move the camera in a first-person shooter game.