Head-tracking with iphone

Pulse

Pulse
I just downloaded Mobile Mouse Pro for my iphone 5 and it works a treat as a super cheap 3-way axis head-tracker solution. There wasn't really any in depth tutorials so here are the steps I used:

1. download from the app store https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mobile-mouse-pro-remote-+/id289616509?mt=8 (note the free version doesn't include the air mouse support which you need)

2. download the server client from http://mobilemouse.com/ for your version of windows. There's also a mac one so when E: D comes out for OSX this will still work

3. install the server client and follow the instructions, note the IP and Port number in the server tab once open. Open the app on your phone and click the settings button on the top left, input your IP and Port number from your pc. Make sure you're connected to wifi as this is how the phone will communicate with your pc. If done correctly the server screen on your pc will now say status 'connected', or 'mouse moving+' if you're touching the virtual mousepad on the app screen.

4. hit the 'switch' button on the top right of the app screen to switch from trackpad mode to Air Mouse mode. The mouse should now move around on your screen if you hold the trigger on the app screen and wave your phone around. If you hold the trigger then move your thumb down and take it off the screen, it will 'lock' the mouse so you can use it without having to hold the trigger down all the time (you need to do this for elite)

5. fashion some sort of wearable headgear to strap your iphone into, I strapped a plastic card to an old pair of headphones using electrical tape, then used velcro strips on the card and the bottom of an iphone case to fasten it without being fiddly.

6. when in game, set the mouselook button to your HOTAS, joystick or whatever - whenever you want to use the tracking device hit the button and you should start looking around!

After testing it for an hour the mouse seems to drift a little after a while so you're not exactly centred when you look at the middle of the screen sometimes. You can just click the mouselook button you've assigned to rectify it but it is a bit annoying.
It's not a bad solution for less than £2 and you don't have to buy any additional hardware, but you might look a bit of a prat with your phone strapped to your head - and taking calls/answering texts is a bit of a nightmare :)

Have you guys found any other alternatives for ios?
 

ghosty87

G
Works great for me thanks!

Thank you so much, this is a great and cheap alternative to the Track IR. I tried the web cam version of this and it was total crap and hard to set up. This works perfectly tho, you just have to re-center your mouse every now and then. Im using my iphone 4 on top of my head. Totally worth the $2 app to get this working.
 

ghosty87

G
Never used ED tracker so cant say

DextersIndignation said:
Well, I am as cheap as a.....

but it I may give this a try.

is it better than edtracker, other than the fact you have to wear an iPhone on your head?
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I never used ED tracker so I cannot say. However it does seem to get the job done and runs very smooth over my wifi. I was very surprised at how smooth I could turn my head and look around the cockpit. The biggest issue is to make sure you get the mouse program in air mouse mode which is a little confusing at first but just follow the OP's instructions word for word and you should be good. Also make sure your phone has a gyro scope. I was gonna try to use an older iphone/ipod touch I have and completely forgot they dont have gyro so the mouse app doesn't work in Air mouse mode. So I have to use my actual phone to make this work which is no biggie since I do not receive that many calls. You also have to re-center your head sometimes by clicking whatever your re-center button is; mine is middle mouse by default then just click it again to mouse your head freely around. This is only needed if say you stand up or look to far in certain directions, etc.
 

zilch

Z
the phone autolocks each 5 minutes. It's neat for a while but not sure how to stop that lock from happening.
 

Terry Bruge-Hiplo

Terry Bruge-Hiplo
Sorry to bump the thread out of obscurity, but just wanted to say thanks for the guide! Works really well once you play around with the acceleration/speed settings a bit. Minimal acceleration and max speed seems to work quite well. Though it does feel a bit shoe on head having my phone balanced under my headphones :D
 

ROGG

ROGG
I downloaded the Mobile Mouse Pro on my iPhone and tried it out. It is unfortunate, but it appears that it is not recognized by ED.

I did, however, take the time to test a number of these type of applications out and found one that worked. Again, unfortunately, it did not have the capability of locking the 'air-mouse' in an ON state (meaning it only worked when you had your 'meat pointers' on the screen).

It may be worth contacting the vendors of both to see if they can make some minor modifications to their applications.

(edited) I should mention that I'm running ED on an iMac. (end edit)
 
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ROGG

ROGG
I've been doing some additional testing with Mobile Mouse Pro, on the iMac. While I have been able to get it working in the menus, I've not had any success in the game itself.

Secondarily, I've done some testing using Ultimate Mouse Lite. I've been able to get this iPhone app working within the game, but it does not have the capability of 'locking' the air mouse into an 'on' position. That means one would need to touch it in order for it to work. I've sent a note to the developer asking if they might put such a feature into the app. It is a wait and see situation now.

While I'm unsure of the details involved in adding proper head-tracking into the Mac version of ED, I would hope that the developers and interested gamers are actively approaching and working with head-tracking app developers (i.e., LinuxTrack) to put together a solution.
 

ROGG

ROGG
Update: I've received a reply from the creator of Ultimate Mouse.
We did a lot of testing with the configuration you mention. The result was that at some point you need to re-center your phone, so it was frustrating. We could add make such a configuration optional though, and we will sure consider such a feature for future releases.

Don't hesitate to share any further thoughts you may have. It really helps us improve our products, thanks!
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My response to them will, hopefully, encourage their adding the function as an optional configuration item. I'm, eagerly, looking forward to hearing from them again.
 

ROGG

ROGG
I've been doing a lot of research, trying to find a similar solution that will work with Mac systems (see my previous posts in this thread). I've come across an interesting iOS application that I can not test. The app is called Hoverpad. It is free and available for the iPhone and iPad. The reason I can not test this app is because none of my OSX systems (2 iMac, 2 Macbooks, 2 Mac-mini) have the required Bluetooth 4.0 LE capabilities.

If anyone has the will, or opportunity to take a look at this app, I know that I would appreciate it.
 

Argus Leadhead

Argus Leadhead
I set this up and tried it on my PC the other day. Works great with the settings I used (X/Y pointer speed maxed, acceleration set to 1 notch above 0).

The only issue I really had was having my iphone(4S) on my head, under my headset band turned into a bit of pain on the top of my head after a few hour session. The centring issue was taken care of by just using the head look on/off button but it wasn't too much of a problem with the settings I use above. Since I'm not used to head tracking, it did result in the death of my ship in a CZ, but that's because I was watching my target instead of where I was going. Shields got dropped and seconds later I flew full speed into the side of an Anaconda. That was purely pilot error though. A few times I also experienced slight bouts of vertigo/nausea while flying with FA off and looking around at the same time. Almost as if my brain really thought I was tumbling through space at high speed.

I'm wondering if there's a way to get the Mobile Mouse Pro app to interface with opentrack at all though. It would be nice to be able to set up curves for this method of head tracking.

As a side note, I tried this with ArmA 3 in a helo but found it far too sensitive with the same settings as I use for elite. (Thus why Opentrack would be useful).
 
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lordshadowfax

lordshadowfax
I tried this with a 5th gen iPod (which has a gyroscope) and worked just fine.

But I have one issue, which is when I have docked. Since the app essentially is emulating mouse movement, and I primarily use Xbox controller even navigating the menu while docked, the mouse input from this app will interfere if I move my head just slightly. Guess I can try to tune the settings to make it less sensitive to see if it helps, but overall it is a good budget solution.
 

Jebe Noyon

Jebe Noyon
ROGG said:
I downloaded the Mobile Mouse Pro on my iPhone and tried it out. It is unfortunate, but it appears that it is not recognized by ED.
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Hi
MacBook Pro
I have completed steps 1-6
The cursor moves on OS X, in the game menu
But in the game, when activated HEADLOOK review possible using the trackpad, and on the iphone there is no response
Has anyone solved this problem?
 
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