Cool, now I get it, thanks for making and posting the video. It's pretty much as I envisaged it. I just didn't occur to me it would amplify the rotation so it's not 1:1. That makes sense, but does it have low level dampening so that it's not hyper-sensitive in the "still" region? I guess it must have because it doesn't appear jittery in the video...

Many people have done this, but it requires a screen or screens really close to your eyes. The other advantage with this is you can have independent screens for each eye, which also yields true 3D vision (by rendering a scene from two slightly different camera angles). The downside, however, and the reason why none of them have made it to market yet, is that you can't play for very long without feeling sick...

Ah.. vomitting is a bad thing when playing video games.

Lol. Brilliant way to train for the Apache at an early age, just have fun, at home, playing on winny's patented VR_BOP :grin:

Got it.. I'll just include an oxygen mask that doubles as a sick recepticle, connected to a bucket. I'm gonna be rich!

Very interesting discussion here. The Track IR thing looks really neat and I really hope that the consoles get something like this in the near future. Would make a ton of difference playing games where head movement is important ie. fps games, racing games and flying games.

All they really need to do is sell reflectors that you can put somewhere. The TrackIR has a device that attaches it's reflectors to a baseball hat. I'm sure Sony can do something like this, sell them for $20 and pocket $19.99..

The eye may be able to track basic head motions but you need precise control for Flight Simulation... I'm pretty sure any camera can be used, you just need the software that can take the data and figure out what to do with it. Since the PS Eye is already out there and ready to go with the PS3, it seems like a good one to use, rather than creating another camera device that may have its own problems and place on the mantle next to all our other stuff...

You only need to move your head slightly, and it's quite intuitive when you do it. Your eye stays in place because the brain is just setup to work that way, even though you're "looking left" you're not thinking about your eyes, you're thinking about where you want to look in game, which is "right" and to look right you move your head right. (the only way to really show someone is to sit them down and have them try it)


The TrackIR system uses reflectors that reside on the rim of a baseball hat. 2 in front, one in back (in the middle).

To look all the way behind me in FSX and other Flight Simulator games, I simply turn my head about 10, maybe 15 degrees... It even tracks the rotation of your head, which adds an extra feel of realism to the effect, and that is something you can't do with hat switches or the PS3 controller... You can also use it to zoom in, without actually getting close to the monitor, just lean forward a bit and it will zoom in.

The only drawback with them is when you move to an angle where the camera cannot track you, it generally gives you an undesirable viewpoint... but just set it up right and that isn't a problem. (it also usually requires low lighting).

Check out that E3 video in the OP...it's 1:1 tracking, and I believe he mentioned at the "sub-millimeter" level ;)

I did watch the video - what they're doing is 1000 times more complex than they need for the head tracking portion. It just proves that the eye is capable, but any webcam would be. The trick is in what it's tracking.

There is face tracking software that you may get with your Logitich Camera, but it's not precise enough to do what we need for head tracking in a simulator enviroment (racing, flying, etc...).

the other key would be to make the software compatable with it. Can you imagine how real Grand Turismo would be if you not only had the steering wheel and pedals, but also a head tracking feature that puts you behind the wheel, allowing you to use your actual head to look left and right?

Trust me, I've used this with the PC and it transforms your simulator GAME into a real SIMULATOR... Minus the Multi Million dollar price tag and some hydrolics... (though the force feedback feature inhances the "feel").

+1

I couldn't do without headtracking software now. Even the titles like Op Flashpoint Dragon Rising & DIRT 2 on PC are so much more involving & more immersive. Stupidly, head tracking with something like Track IR is the ONLY way you can currently look left & right in any vehicle in OFDR. Bring it to console, let's have this experience enjoyed by more!!!