The TrackIR device, and the head-tracking concept, aren’t new to the gaming community – but many don’t see it’s potential for use in flight or combat simulations. As I haven’t tested a TrackIR product before, we had a customer who was willing to purchase it with their flight sim, the best this was we were also able to build a decent computer for him.
It was not easy to get used to it, I assume I should have done more training, but hangon, add a 50" 3d Glasses and wow.. now your talking..
The TrackIR package contains a small, wide-angle, infra-red camera (45º) and a reflector clip (to clip onto the brim of a cap) – the camera detects light reflected from the clip and tracks the movement of the reflections in order to provide input to programs that support axis-based controls. In short: TrackIR turns your head movements into in-game movements.The TrackIR 4 provides 6DOF (Degrees-of-Freedom), which allows for yaw, pitch, roll movements, as well as movement along the X, Y and Z axes. Not all games/sims support 6DOF, but most support at least two (which are required for simple free-look movements).
For a full list of supported simulations (and the DOF they support), see the TrackIR website.The device itself is tiny, measuring only a few centimetres in all directions – and with it’s flexible feet, is easily mountable on the top of a CRT or TFT screen and is connected via USB 2.0. Installing the software is a breeze and you’ll be up and running in no time at all. To install the TrackClip, you simply plug the TrackIR into the TrackClip’s cable and plug that into your PC. The TrackClip ‘add-on device’ provides IR lights instead of reflectors and can be clipped onto a headset instead of a hat.
The TrackIR was designed to meet the need for a smooth, simple free-look function – one that didn’t constrain it’s user to looking only in prescribed directions. Prior to a few hours ago, when the TrackIR 4 arrived on my desk, I had always thought that the idea of head-tracking was a bit pointless – I was perfectly happy with the ‘look left’, ‘look right’ buttons on my wheel. However, 1 day on. The TrackIR camera has a 45-degree field of view, which allows for a diverse range of head movements, with only the most extreme of movements going out of range, causing some strange movement glitches. Re-centring the TrackIR’s ‘virtual head’ is a simple matter of hitting a user-defined keyboard bind, which allows for the quick fixing of most head movement glitches that are inherent with the limitations of the software and hardware. The software for the device is easy to configure and use. It also allows for various settings (such as magnification of movement) that will enable the user to adjust how real head movements translate to in-game movements. The profiling settings allow for different setups to be stored for various types of game – you can decide how many DOF to enable for each profile, the sensitivity of your movements, sensitivity curves, deadzones and a bunch of other useful features. As far as in-game use goes.
As long as a game supports binding ‘free look’ to an axis, TrackIR will work – even if the product doesn’t explicitly support the device.
The mapping between the real-world and the TrackIR world isn't entirely exact, however, and there are certain movements and behaviours you will have to adapt to in order to fully gain the benefit of TrackIR. When flying, it can be hard to gauge the severity of correction required if you turn your head too far into the slide - but this is one of those minor problems that is overcome with time. As a whole, TrackIR will have a negative impact on your flight to begin with (as with all new hardware experiences, from a new yokie peddel) - but you'll soon regain your 'feel', the fight will return to normal, but you'll find yourself immersed in a new experience, where looking around by moving your head is normal. I would make a comparison with a multi-screen setup, but they're really entirely different monsters. I find that multi-monitor setups help significantly with peripheral vision, but have limited use for providing a smooth 'look-around' experience, especially if the monitor frames can be clearly seen. Maybe the best set-up is a frame-less multi-screen setup with TrackIR? Fancy one? We build it you buy it..
TrackIR 4 Pro+ TrackClip + Flight Simulator X and flight Simulator Accelerator we supply for £160 +vat.
Watch the video how it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AO0F5sLdVM
TrackIR Dogflight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PGJVvUqnpc
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