TrackIR and head tracking discussion

Interestingly, since 1.3 the game now shows with the correct name in TIR software, but it's not in the list of titles to assign a profile with.

 

It sure takes a while to get used to, but after a while it has become second nature and you really miss it when playing on other rigs.
Something I can personally advice apart from the no deadzone and roll on - if you haven't already - is to lower the FOV drastically. I did this incrementely going from whatever the default setting is (60?), to 35. Accurate FOV for me is around 25 but I find that to be a bit too 'blinding'.

 

I'm glad you like it. I agree on the roll thing - I roll my head around a lot during sim racing. Having this DOF locked while yaw and pitch are active feels kind of strange.

X, Y and Z are not too important to me. I think I have them off at the moment.

As for adaption: at first I reacted to my own head movements with countersteering. But that went away very quickly.

The tweaking however goes on until today - I keep lowering and lowering the output/input ratio on pitch and yaw. I just went from 0.5 to 0.3 and it keeps feeling better. I have set myself 2 limiting factors: I want to be able to look down at the instruments and at the in-car rearview mirror, comfortably - no further. Even a very low ratio allows for that and such a ratio will also allow you to look at the apexes of even the tightest turns.

Another thing that recently helped me: I used to set a maximum output when looking at the very edge of the screen. But I kept running into this because I obviously tend to rotate my head further than that. So the image stopped following my head movements, which felt strange. So I pushed this maximum input further and it feels better.

But I still haven't found the reason why sometimes the image gets unsmooth under head movement. It usually starts off perfectly smooth but then after a while the image gets a little nervous - you can really see the pixel lines having a little fight, some flickering during head movement. Any help here would be appreciated.

Edit: another thing I found very important is to have exactly the same ratio for pitch and yaw. Having slower/faster yaw than pitch feels irritating.

 

Yes, I agree. Also adjusting the 'speed' setting seems to help (mine is really low, like 0.1 or 0.2 by memory, but I believe this is generic and not for each axis). In my case I'm already on the 49"CRG9 (32:9) so reality is already get a good view on the left, and on the right doesn't take much to see the mirror and a bit out the right side. Personally, I tweaked all the movement curves to mirror my head movement almost exact. The resulting curve is not at all flat, and looks strangely up/down in the graph, but the result is darn close to 1:1. The Track IR software has a really nice way to visualize your real head movement vs the virtual one (top view, rear view, side view, etc). I just worked on adjusting the curves so in increments until things were pretty much 1:1 along the whole range of movement. It feels much more natural now. And there's less need to train my eyes to stay front. I don't get as much disorientation anymore.
With a 16:9 I guess that wouldn't work so well.

I haven't noticed this, but honestly I've mostly been tweaking and experimenting. No longer sessions yet. Will try to get some time in this weekend and let you know if I run into the same.

 

I just accidentally discovered TrackIR 5 existed and bought it. Based on my experience, I have written my considerations here (I hope they will be useful):
https://trinacriasimracing.wordpress.com/trackir-5-review-for-sim-racing/

 

Excellent write up.

I've always thought of TrackIR as the middle step for those unsure of VR yet, or just waiting for VR to get better, or as the poor man's VR.

Been using one for years now and it delivers. It even gives you this pseudo 3D feeling inside cars because as you move your head around the cockpit everything is shifting perspective as it would in real life. It's a depth/3D effect I never felt before having TrackIR.

 

+1 on the write-up. I’ve been using TIR for years in Falcon BMS but strangely it hasn’t occurred to me to give it a try in ACC. So I know what I’ll being doing tonight!

 

TrackIR is good - nice write up!. "Delanclip" is a good alternative at about one third of the price if you are happy to do a bit of set-up work and install OpenTrack (it is very easy to do and they provide a good guide and provide good user support in my experience). https://delanengineering.com/

(I have no association with Delanclip but have used their system for some time with ACC and it works very well).

 

I´m running TrackHat. Works flawlessly. Just tried the 189 hz camera option yesterday and it´s even more smooth than using 120 hz (189 hz didn´t use to work, strange) ! I really can´t play without head tracking anymore and without my buttkickers..

 

Before I went for VR I tried the Delanclip as well, but found the EDtracker more satisfactory in the end, because it was independent from the lighting situation. Optical head trackers would often cause trouble, because especially in the summertime the sun goes down right through our living room windows, and even with closed blinds it would distract the camera too much.
The EDtracker runs with an IMU and a magnetometer, which resulted in very little drift and almost perfect 3DOF. 6DOF is theoretically possible, but not recommended, as it's measured by inertia, not by an absolute position.

 

How does TrackIR help when I turn my head to the left and therefore I would not be able to see the screen, or am I wrong with my understanding of TrackIR?

 

All of these head tracking solutions can be configured how much your real head movement is multiplied ingame.
Which means: You turn your head 15° in real life (and still see the screen), but ingame your view turns by 90°.
This sounds kinda weird, but you get used to it very fast.

 

You made a mistake in the Rift S's resolution calculation: The 2560x1440 display is split vertically into 1280x1440 per eye, not 1280x720.

 

Thanks, I corrected my mistake.
Also, on the blog I added the link to download the ACC profile, created by pankykapus, already optimized so that you don't have to reverse the yaw axis.

 

Thread resurrection here we go. Do any of you guys still use head tracking? Any changes to posted settings?

Got a Declanclip fusion this week and stuggling to get it dialed in with my 44in suw. Will have a tinker with the suggested settings [opentrack software]

 

is traking ir good as 3 monitors?

 

I've had both and while triples are nice it comes with its own headaches. I discovered that when you start using niche-of-niche products their implementation and support comes with issues. I much prefer TrackIR and use all it the time when I'm in sims.

The way I think about is if like me you're just not ready for VR then TrackIR is the way to go.

You might think it would feel weird to look around while having to stare at your monitor straight ahead but your brain so quickly gets used to it that it becomes second nature. I've caught myself absentmindedly turning my head at the windows desktop as if the deskop would move to the left or right lol

The best thing about TrackIR is probably is how it solves the narrow field of view in a way that feels natural given the confines of a limited screen.

I would like a something like Tobii Eye Tracker ideally but I have heard it doesn't track as smoothly or reliably as TrackIR yet.

I think it was this video that convinced me to stick with TrackIR over Tobii

 

Plus Tobii Eye Tracker sensor requires installation at the bottom of the monitor, so it will be blocked by steering wheel in most sim-rigs.