Headtracking hardware ideas? Anyone?

Greetings eh,

With 2.5 coming up I'm thinking about checking out head tracking... I've never tried it before. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I know about Track IR... it's expensive as all heck though, I'm curious if anyone has tried anything else.

I've heard of FaceTrackNoIR but apparently it's a bit glitchy and is a pain to set up... has anyone had any luck with it? What sort of camera do you need to make it work right? Almost anything?

Also, do any headtracking methods cut into framerates much?

Thanks so much!

AD

I purchased this kit in 2014: http://www.delanengineering.com/shop/#!/DelanClip-Gamer/p/43397050/category=0

... costs much less than a trackir, includes everything you need and is fully assembled ... if you have do-it-yourself abilities you can make your own, I'd rather pay a bit of money and spend my time playing :)

The impact in framerates is minimal, and it works just fine ... here I've a video so you can see:

8NM7RM8uvA0

Best regards,

I purchased this kit in 2014: http://www.delanengineering.com/shop/#!/DelanClip-Gamer/p/43397050/category=0

 

... costs much less than a trackir, includes everything you need and is fully assembled ... if you have do-it-yourself abilities you can make your own, I'd rather pay a bit of money and spend my time playing :)

 

The impact in framerates is minimal, and it works just fine ... here I've a video so you can see:

 

Best regards,

Thanks so much :) I'm probably gonna get a cheap webcam and cobble together a 3 or 4-point clip. Sounds entertaining for a little while :)

Peace

AD

Thanks so much :) I'm probably gonna get a cheap webcam and cobble together a 3 or 4-point clip. Sounds entertaining for a little while :)

 

Peace

 

AD

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Look into EDTracker...doesnt need a camera. I have the wired and wireless versions....wireless is great but gets interference...

 

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That device uses gyros, I can only imagine they drift over time. Using lights and a camera doesn't do that.

See if you can locate a used PS3 eye camera, pretty cheap, around $10.00 at Game Stop stores here in the US. If you build a clip with IR LEDs you'll need to modify the camera (if you can build a clip you can mod the camera) to remove the IR filter. As for software I would recommend Open Track, it's free, still being developed, and works great. Lots of good info here: http://www.free-track.net/english/

That device uses gyros, I can only imagine they drift over time. Using lights and a camera doesn't do that.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

:DTrackIR 5 + good profile = awesomeness

I purchased this kit in 2014: http://www.delanengineering.com/shop/#!/DelanClip-Gamer/p/43397050/category=0

 

... costs much less than a trackir, includes everything you need and is fully assembled ... if you have do-it-yourself abilities you can make your own, I'd rather pay a bit of money and spend my time playing :)

 

The impact in framerates is minimal, and it works just fine ... here I've a video so you can see:

 

8NM7RM8uvA0

 

Best regards,

whow, nice to know.. wanted already since long but did not want to pay 190bucks ..looks like the solution ..thanks !

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, VR is the ultimate way to go for headtracking needs. If it needs to be cheap, it's out of the question of course.

Nope, no drift...uses a magnetometer and adjusts every time you turn it on. You dont need to face a camera, no light issues, just one small device.

 

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it's only 3dof

Voting for EDTracker as well.

Best solution as long as 3DOF (means: no "zoom") is enough for you.

I just bought a cheap webcam (Logitech c270) to play with. 30 bucks. :)

I also bought a nice new Asus 32" IPS monitor today, 2560 x 1440, and MAN OH MAN does the backlight bleed ever suck! Now I have to decide if I want to keep the stupid thing or not!

At least it doesn't have any dead pixels, but holy smokes do low-light missions ever look awful!

Does *anyone* at all make decent large monitors? They all seem to suck.

I just bought a cheap webcam (Logitech c270) to play with. 30 bucks. :)

Why? The delan kit costs 45 and includes the led clip and the webcam already modified ... you are just saving 15 dollars in exchange for a lot of work to make your own :(

Why? The delan kit costs 45 and includes the led clip and the webcam already modified ... you are just saving 15 dollars in exchange for a lot of work to make your own :(

Good point, although I don't mind making it, I like making things... But I don't have to pay for shipping either, or wait a month or two for it to show up. That's one of the reasons I like to buy stuff locally.

Anyway, I got the webcam working nicely, it's a shame my new Asus 32" IPS monitor was total shyte. :) Oh man, do I ever hate backlight bleed, and this one was just awful. I'm surprised they're allowed to sell such a thing, it was that bad. I hope they don't make too much of a fuss when I return it today. I really wanted it, I even got a "good" one with zero dead pixels. Dang.

AD

I wonder how close we are to Eye Tracking in practical terms ?

Head tracking means you are bobbing back and forth all the time. Personally I could never get used to it. Most people seem to like it. Now with something that would track your corneal reflection you could look in all directions with the screen staying centered on where you look.

No more head movements. There is a review on a product called Steel series sentry on the web but it sounds like it is not there yet. Wonder if the devs have any idea of upcoming technology ?

I would suggest checking out Ebay and "for sale" sections of flight-sim forums periodically, because with more folks switching to VR nowadays, you can quite often get a second-hand full-blown TrackIR for a very attractive price.

"I would" if you didn't seem to be a very impatient guy, though :D.

I wonder how close we are to Eye Tracking in practical terms ?

Head tracking means you are bobbing back and forth all the time. Personally I could never get used to it. Most people seem to like it. Now with something that would track your corneal reflection you could look in all directions with the screen staying centered on where you look.

No more head movements. There is a review on a product called Steel series sentry on the web but it sounds like it is not there yet. Wonder if the devs have any idea of upcoming technology ?

Is that really an improvement? The head bobbing just depends on how... excited you are? I don't know... Having used a TrackIR for quite a while it seems like a totally weird idea, because with head tracking what you do is turn your head and move your eyes in the opposite direction so you can still see your screen. Moving the camera by monitoring your eye shifting seems like a very convolved way of just setting up more monitors to me.

Is that really an improvement? The head bobbing just depends on how... excited you are? I don't know... Having used a TrackIR for quite a while it seems like a totally weird idea, because with head tracking what you do is turn your head and move your eyes in the opposite direction so you can still see your screen. Moving the camera by monitoring your eye shifting seems like a very convolved way of just setting up more monitors to me.

Well, I don't know for certain it's an improvement. I think it would be having the screen constantly centered on where you are looking. Move your eyes to the gauge in the top right of the screen and the gauge is automatically centered for you. Glance back to a switch and the screen centers there

Since various armed forces use it it must be better than head tracking. Of course they have the money :). I have an older track ir 2 or 3 and I found it a pain in the butt.

Maybe they are better now but I would prefer my screen to center on where I want to see not where my head is pointing - - - I think :)

Would love to hear from someone who has tried it.

Ah, okay, I think I misunderstood what the system is supposed to do earlier.

Just received my Edtracker Pro wireless. Install was a breeze. works without any additional software. Jumped in to find my head was steering the aircraft. Obviously as it works off the joystick. Cleared that and set my x and y axis. I don't find zoom a problem at all as up until now I have it mapped to my pinky wheel on my TM16000 throttle and that's what I am using. No lag or locking all is smooth. I am a long way from having it properly set up, (way too much head movement on my part) as I have never head tracked before. No drift or anything like that. I only wish there was a tutorial on youtube for proper setup for A10c.

Just received my Edtracker Pro wireless. Install was a breeze. works without any additional software. Jumped in to find my head was steering the aircraft. Obviously as it works off the joystick. Cleared that and set my x and y axis. I don't find zoom a problem at all as up until now I have it mapped to my pinky wheel on my TM16000 throttle and that's what I am using. No lag or locking all is smooth. I am a long way from having it properly set up, (way too much head movement on my part) as I have never head tracked before. No drift or anything like that. I only wish there was a tutorial on youtube for proper setup for A10c.

A bit of trial and error but now my EDTracker is flawless

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FacetrackNoIR, active IR "Pro" headphone (velcro'd on)...PS3 camera modded for IR use only, and Open Track software. All hardware found on EBay.

I used to have FTNoIR software, but it would still go wonky at max angles and then it went totally glitchy on me (random full-pitch/yaw/roll movements). Open Track fixed that in a most glorious fashion.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the wrap-around screen + 2x (3x?) projector method yet.

WR, I have seen those edtracker vids and have basically set up that way first. Guess I am looking for an explanation as to what scaling and smoothing is. I am hoping to get my cockpit setup running with my actual head movement kept to a minimum. 20 degrees in any direction would be nice. And a nice non jerky flow.

:DTrackIR 5 + good profile = awesomeness

Indeed. Time is money.

TIR may cost more but it works right out of the box.

ED tracker is only 3dof so it cannot even be compared.