Over on Flightsim.com, I read an OP-ED about somebody using TrackIR.I am wondering if a "rollerball" type mouse could be used to do the same thing.But I dont even know if a computer would recognise two mouses at once. If the rollerball could be used in place of a hat switch on a normal joystick , then you could use the normal joystick and mouse with your right hand and use the rollerball in your left hand to pan the cockpit and for 3d situational awareness.Probably a crazy idea - but because I don't have a spare joystick or rollerball, I can't experiemntHmm-- I wonder if another joystick which has a hatswitch could be used as a method of panning with the left hand?Barry

Well there's only one PS/2-type mouse port available, but if you get a USB mouse it should be possible. Sounds crazy though - you'd have to be some kind of octopus to operate it - steer aircraft with your feet and one hand, look around with your second hand, operate gauges and switches with a third hand - anyone got a spare fourth hand to hold charts, operate the ATC menu etc? :-lol

I don't get the idea of TrackIR. If you have one monitor and TrackIR tracks your head movements, then, if you turned your head to the right to look out the right side of the aircraft, then you would have to look at the monitor out of the left side of your eyes, isn't that right? It seems very disorienting to me. I've never seen it, has anybody here tried it? Wondering what the experience is like.

It doesn't work quite like you think Rudi.The movement of your head is amplified on the screen so small head movements produce larger view moves on the monitor, the 'amplification' can be adjusted to suit you. Also there is a centering zone so that small head movements within that zone do not move the view on screen.To look fully left or right you normally move your head sideways rather than turn it fully left or right so you can still see the monitor.It does take some getting used to but the effect is quite neat although I suspect it is of more use for combat sims than civil aviation sims.I do not have TrackIR but do have Cam2Pan (http://www.mousevision.com/) which produces similar effects but is much cheaper although it does need a cheap Webcam which can provide 30fps.You can download a trial version of Cam2Pan to get an idea of what it's like. It only lasts 5 minutes but there is no limit to the number of times you can try it IIRC.

Very cool. I've got a cheap webcam and I'll try it. Thanks for the helpful information! Best regards

I got it for christmas in 2002 and promptly returned it after trying many times not to throw up. I have 22 inch monitors so there is plenty of glass to scan. But for me, it is very unnatural in my opinion to have to move your head and keep your eyes in the same spot on your monitor. Definitely doesn't feel the same as real life but if you imagine enough without getting sick I guess it will do it for you.Carmine http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/Images/wave.gif

Though I haven't tried it I would think the problem would not be getting used to moving your head to see around, but would be having to sit absolutely still during your flight to prevent your view from moving about. I would think that would be a but un-natural?

The solution is of course one of those VR headsets because then the monitor is always in front of you. Hehe maybe you can build one yourself - buy a small 8" something LCD screen and hang it from your head, and use trackIR to change the view :)

Out of the box, TrackIR will take some fiddling to set up a good config for FS9. You want a large null zone so you don't have to worry about little head movements, and you want to make sure you have a movement scaling that will allow you to look all of the way around the cockpit in smooth increments. THere are presets available that are a good start, and you can then tune to your preferences.After spending a couple of hours with TrackIR, I think most VC/VFR fliers will find it pretty revolutionary. I absolutely cannot fly without it. Sometimes I'll load up FS9 quickly without TrackIR to test out a new download or whatever, and using the joystick panning feels like I've stepped back into the stone age.I haven't had an issue with the "turning your head while still looking at the monitor" .... oddly, it feels very natural .... only small head movements are necessary, so you aren't straining to keep your eyes on the monitor.Only problem I've found is that flying during the daytime (the real daytime, not the virtual one) can result in some issues as the camera picks up other reflections. It's hard to control the light in my office, though I imagine if I went around and removed or blocked out the objects that are reflective it would be better.

Hi,Late response, I know! Ever heard of Active Camera ? It lets you use the mouse for panning around in VC and extern view mode. But thats IMHO only not the most interesting feature of this utility, head latency is! (www.anticyclone.be)Hugo