I imagine that without haptic feedback, so far it makes more sense to be looking at your hands while you're using them in VR. But I had the same thoughts -- would it be better to have a setup where the Leap Motion is on a pendant or something so it's mounted on your chest?

Even given that is has a wider than visual FOV I think you're onto something. The Oculus DK2 already has an IR camera for tracking the rift in three space. Why wouldn't they partner to extend the Leap functionality using the existing camera?

Edit: Spelling

I like their approach for simple apps where you are just working with your hands in front of you. But definitely optical tracking tech can't compete with exoskeleton like gloves and other sensor approaches. Curious if people think otherwise, optical tracking without many markers and many trackers just hasn't been done well in any product that I've come across, save motion capture studios.

I've never seen a truly useful application of hand gestures to control a PC. Great for short demos, though.

Agreed, the only thing that's been done sort of well is full body controls in MS Kinect. But it's only really the dancing games that I've found compelling. Most gamers would rather just play with a controller for most game genres they already enjoy.