I used Track IR for a month and couldn't get used to it so I quit using it 

6 minutes ago, Todd2 said:

I used Track IR for a month and couldn't get used to it so I quit using it 

It is not for everyone. A friend of mine gets motion sickness with it. She just cannot use it.

However if you can get the hang of it then it is invaluable and the next best thing to VR.  In fact the benefit to SA in the old school IL2 full real combat servers (no HUD, tab targeting or icons, you have to visually spot, identify and follow the target) back in the day was so substantial that some people were pressuring to have trackIR support disabled as giving an unfair advantage.

 

 

Edited July 25, 20214 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

On 7/24/2021 at 8:17 AM, paddler said:

Lately I have been having a problem with TIR5 and Proclip with MSFS. I can turn on the program and get the setup screen but it will not track except on a few rare occasions. When I start MSFS the camera registers that it recognizes the MSFS (right light of camera on) but the left light remains off. In the past after a short time the left light would appear and the camera track but intermittently. Now that left camera light will not come on at all. I have changed IR Brightness levels, changed USB locations all to no avail. Has anyone else suffered a similar issue? The camera is at least 10 years old and perhaps is failing? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Rick 

Update. Finally tracked the problem back to the connection of the camera wire at the USB male connector. After all of these years, 10+, the wire has bent and frayed the rubber insulation. Though the computer recognizes the device and says that it is operating properly when it clearly is not as it will not receive active IR from the Proclip.  I consider it an essential part of my simming so an easy choice to replace it. This has been a great thread with loads of advice and has been very helpful. Thanks to all who have contributed.

23 hours ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

Didn’t know it was a thing, I’ll google it.. got a link, lots of garbage links come up when I google it.

 

I meant this:

Tobii Eye Tracker 5 - The Next Generation of Head and Eye Tracking - Tobii Gaming

 

Looks like its much better than my TIR and no headgear required at all!!!

 

Tracks not only head movement but also eye movement!

 

Surprised nobody is using this?

 

Edited July 25, 20214 yr by Kilo60

12 minutes ago, Kilo60 said:

 

I meant this:

Tobii Eye Tracker 5 - The Next Generation of Head and Eye Tracking - Tobii Gaming

 

Looks like its much better than my TIR and no headgear required at all!!!

 

Tracks not only head movement but also eye movement!

 

Surprised nobody is using this?

 

That’s interesting, Will have to do some research before being sold on it as I’ve never even seen or heard of this thing, whereas track ir has been tried and tested for years.

35 minutes ago, Kilo60 said:

Surprised nobody is using this?

Well it costs over twice as much and has a 33% narrower FoV. The eye tracking capability is irrelevant for MSFS because it isn't supported (and there is no good model of what it would do if it was supported). I had the Tobii EyeX v1 and it wasn't much use with FSX or anything else. It also had restrictions on how close you needed to be and the maximum size of screen it supported, although I see those restrictions only apply to gaze tracking. The original didn't do head tracking, so maybe that works well and would indeed be an asset if it works robustly without a wearable target. I presume it can distinguish facial features (probably eyes and mouth), the question is whether it can do so accurately enough.

Edited July 25, 20214 yr by MarkDH

On 7/22/2021 at 9:20 PM, flyinpilot212121 said:

Anyone using track IR with msfs (poor mans VR) I’m considering getting it but looking for opinions, Ive looked at videos, and while it looks cool, I find it kinda seems like it would be an awkward device to use, head turned one way while straining your eyes to keep them on the screen. 

it also seems like it would throw me off on my natural head movements (almost like I would have to put a lot of effort in trying to keep my head still) 

trying to get a feel for this track ir before spending $200+…any opinions would be appreciated! 
 

Cheers my friends!

Yes,i bought a used one of ebay £75.00.It's good once set up,you've got to sit quite  still though.Once you get used to just moving your head,it,s good.

25 minutes ago, MarkDH said:

Well it costs over twice as much and has a 33% narrower FoV. The eye tracking capability is irrelevant for MSFS because it isn't supported (and there is no good model of what it would do if it was supported). I had the Tobii EyeX v1 and it wasn't much use with FSX or anything else. It also had restrictions on how close you needed to be and the maximum size of screen it supported, although I see those restrictions only apply to gaze tracking. The original didn't do head tracking, so maybe that works well and would indeed be an asset if it works robustly without a wearable target. I presume it can distinguish facial features (probably eyes and mouth), the question is whether it can do so accurately enough.

I feel that if it was revolutionary for simming, I would have come across in in the past?

One of thease you want.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294223610291

2 hours ago, paddler said:

Update. Finally tracked the problem back to the connection of the camera wire at the USB male connector. After all of these years, 10+, the wire has bent and frayed the rubber insulation. Though the computer recognizes the device and says that it is operating properly when it clearly is not as it will not receive active IR from the Proclip.  I consider it an essential part of my simming so an easy choice to replace it. This has been a great thread with loads of advice and has been very helpful. Thanks to all who have contributed.

When my 12 year old + track Ir died a few months ago, it was a USB issue too. I am glad it died, because the new one is so much better. 

I've been using TrackIR for years and ever since msfs came out without issue.  It's a game changer really, going from panning views from a hat switch to just mocinf your head to look around. I'm a little susceptible to motion sickness so VR would be no good for me but I've never had an issue with TrackIR 

I haven't tried trackir, but I made a head tracking "clip" using popsicle sticks, LEDs, a CR2032 battery holder, a switch, some wire, solder, and a bunch of hot glue. It attaches to my headphones using velcro. I use a cheap ps3eye camera and opentrack software. My first attempt used a wire coat hanger but was not rigid enough and easily bent out of shape, but worked reasonably well. Then I used the smoothtrack mobile app for a while, but it has a bit too much judder for me. Using the clip and camera is much smoother.

I used blue LEDs which I already had on hand as a test to try out head tracking with the intention of switching to IR later, but it works so well I just stuck with blue. As a bonus, I didn't need to modify the camera filter. Opentrack has an option to use only the blue channel from the camera which helps to avoid picking up ambient light. Luckily I don't have any lights behind me which would cause issues.

Camera position is important. Initially, I had it sitting under my monitor, but had issues with things blocking the camera view. Also if I looked up too high it would sometimes lose track of the LEDs. Placing the camera on top of my monitor angled down slightly and a little off to my left side where my clip is works much better and rarely gets blocked.

 

23 minutes ago, eltair said:

I haven't tried trackir, but I made a head tracking "clip" using popsicle sticks, LEDs, a CR2032 battery holder, a switch, some wire, solder, and a bunch of hot glue. It attaches to my headphones using velcro. I use a cheap ps3eye camera and opentrack software. My first attempt used a wire coat hanger but was not rigid enough and easily bent out of shape, but worked reasonably well. Then I used the smoothtrack mobile app for a while, but it has a bit too much judder for me. Using the clip and camera is much smoother.

I used blue LEDs which I already had on hand as a test to try out head tracking with the intention of switching to IR later, but it works so well I just stuck with blue. As a bonus, I didn't need to modify the camera filter. Opentrack has an option to use only the blue channel from the camera which helps to avoid picking up ambient light. Luckily I don't have any lights behind me which would cause issues.

Camera position is important. Initially, I had it sitting under my monitor, but had issues with things blocking the camera view. Also if I looked up too high it would sometimes lose track of the LEDs. Placing the camera on top of my monitor angled down slightly and a little off to my left side where my clip is works much better and rarely gets blocked.

 

That’s impressive, well done my friend!

however for myself, I once tried face track noire and tried something similar (home built apparatus) with no luck, I think for me I’m at a point where I would rather just pay for something already built and ready. I mean if we were talking 1000’s of dollars I reconsider.

On 7/24/2021 at 5:17 AM, paddler said:

Has anyone else suffered a similar issue?

Yes. The camera stopped working after about 6 or 7 years. I bought a new TIR and it worked perfectly out of the box.

Mine occasionally goes to sleep if your not using it, nothing in power settings seemed to fix it and I needed to re-plug the USB cable to get it back into action.

The solution was buy a powered USB hub with ON/OFF switches for each port. Now I just hit the ON/OFF button if it has gone to sleep and all is good.

The powered hub also fixed a sporadic tracking issue I got when using my FFB2 with TrackIR at the same time, presumably because both devices when combined pulled too much power and overloaded the normal motherboard USB ports.

 

Edited July 27, 20214 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick