Playing ED with a headtracking device adds a lot to the experience. Being able to look in a different direction than the one your ship is pointing to is invaluable for about every activity in the game. Combat, mission running, exploration, or just docking benefits from it greatly. So if you can, get one or even better : build one. I've been there and done that, 3 times with different devices and I thought I'd share my thoughts on them here.
So far I've built and used these devices:
TLDR : go for the EdTracker with magnetometer and OpenTrack.
DIY IR led emitter + modded PS3 Eye camera
I followed this mostly and some other sources here and there :
http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/2gpr7r/completeish_facetracknoir_diy_trackir_guide/
Approximative cost :
- 3 SFH485P LEDs + 1 resistor = 2€
- PS3Eye cam = 10€ (on eBay)
- PS3Eye drivers = 5€
- micro usb cable = 5€
about 22€ total
Building the emitter is quite easy, I made mine out of a few Lego Technics pieces and attached it to my headset with tape. I soldered everything but its quite possible to do it without even soldering at all.
Modifying the PS3 Eye cam is a bit more difficult but not that hard either. You just need a bit of patience.
Then, unfortunately comes the endless fiddling with OpenTrack parameters, again and again and again every time the camera is moved, or the sun shines too much, or the headset gets bumped etc. If you can keep it all in place and make sure the camera doesn't get too much sunlight it works well but if you don't I think you're better off using something else.
In the end, you get a 6DoF head tracker which is great but too sensitive to external changes for my taste. Moving your chair also changes the position of the emitter relative to the camera and thus changes your position in the game. You may find it either realistic or annoying...
EDTracker without magnetometer
Approximative cost :
- Kit from HobbyComponents, with shipping : about 18€
- micro USB Cable : 5 €
about 23€ total
If you know how to solder, building this is extremely easy, the instructions on edtracker.org.uk are excellent. The most difficult was to find a suitable enclosure and install it into it. Installing and configuring the software is also easy but calibrating it is hard.
It is very light and quite inconspicuous, at least more than having 3 leds taped to your headset. It's just a little box and a cable.
You get a 2 axis head tracker that emulates a joystick. This means you won't be able to move laterally, up/down, or backwards / forwards. And you don't have roll either. If that's something you need, go for an IR solution. But in my opinion, that is mostly useless in ED. What you want is to be able to look around to track ships, USS, station entrances, celestial objects etc., not move around in your cockpit
You can then either use the virtual joystick axes directly in the game, binding them to headlook or use OpenTrack, which is what I recommend as you get more control over the response curves.
Now for the bad part: yaw drift. I read countless forums, tried a lot of techniques, but I couldn't get it to even moderate levels reliably. I ended up clicking the button to reset the default position way to often which was distracting. Moreover, when yaw drift happens you don't necessarily notice it immediately and you find your neck turning to compensate which can lead to mild neck pain after a while.
There is probably a way to do it properly, maybe the pre-built models are better at this but then it wouldn't be DIY... In any case, I wasn't satisfied with it, so on to the next option.
EDTracker with magnetometer
Approximative cost :
- Kit from HobbyComponents, with shipping : about 27€
- micro USB Cable : 5 €
about 32€ total
So for a bit more money you get the same benefits as the regular EDtracker, without any yaw drift.
Building is exactly the same, the only piece that changes is the the accelerometer board. Calibrating has one more phase as you need to calibrate the magnetometer but it is quite easy and works well.
It has 0 yaw drift though it sometimes get confused about the magnetic direction and you need to recalibrate the bias in the edtracker software but I found in my experience that it never happens while playing. It seems to happen when I leave the headset flat on my desk. But the recalibration is a trivial process and takes only a few seconds.
I haven't felt any difference between both edtrackers in terms of response, it works great.
Final thoughts
My recommendation is to just go for an EDtracker with magnetometer. I also recommend using OpenTrack instead of using the joystick emulation, it gives you more control over the response curves.
I haven't tried non-DIY solutions, so maybe a real TrackIR is the better option but I'm happy with the Edtracker... Until I get an Oculus Rift
I hope this is useful to prospective head tracking DIYers
Cheers,
CMDR Nid
So far I've built and used these devices:
- DIY IR led emitter + modded PS3 Eye camera
- EDTracker without magnetometer (MPU6050)
- EDTracker with magnetometer (MPU9150)
TLDR : go for the EdTracker with magnetometer and OpenTrack.
DIY IR led emitter + modded PS3 Eye camera
I followed this mostly and some other sources here and there :
http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/2gpr7r/completeish_facetracknoir_diy_trackir_guide/
Approximative cost :
- 3 SFH485P LEDs + 1 resistor = 2€
- PS3Eye cam = 10€ (on eBay)
- PS3Eye drivers = 5€
- micro usb cable = 5€
about 22€ total
Building the emitter is quite easy, I made mine out of a few Lego Technics pieces and attached it to my headset with tape. I soldered everything but its quite possible to do it without even soldering at all.
Modifying the PS3 Eye cam is a bit more difficult but not that hard either. You just need a bit of patience.
Then, unfortunately comes the endless fiddling with OpenTrack parameters, again and again and again every time the camera is moved, or the sun shines too much, or the headset gets bumped etc. If you can keep it all in place and make sure the camera doesn't get too much sunlight it works well but if you don't I think you're better off using something else.
In the end, you get a 6DoF head tracker which is great but too sensitive to external changes for my taste. Moving your chair also changes the position of the emitter relative to the camera and thus changes your position in the game. You may find it either realistic or annoying...
EDTracker without magnetometer
Approximative cost :
- Kit from HobbyComponents, with shipping : about 18€
- micro USB Cable : 5 €
about 23€ total
If you know how to solder, building this is extremely easy, the instructions on edtracker.org.uk are excellent. The most difficult was to find a suitable enclosure and install it into it. Installing and configuring the software is also easy but calibrating it is hard.
It is very light and quite inconspicuous, at least more than having 3 leds taped to your headset. It's just a little box and a cable.
You get a 2 axis head tracker that emulates a joystick. This means you won't be able to move laterally, up/down, or backwards / forwards. And you don't have roll either. If that's something you need, go for an IR solution. But in my opinion, that is mostly useless in ED. What you want is to be able to look around to track ships, USS, station entrances, celestial objects etc., not move around in your cockpit
You can then either use the virtual joystick axes directly in the game, binding them to headlook or use OpenTrack, which is what I recommend as you get more control over the response curves.
Now for the bad part: yaw drift. I read countless forums, tried a lot of techniques, but I couldn't get it to even moderate levels reliably. I ended up clicking the button to reset the default position way to often which was distracting. Moreover, when yaw drift happens you don't necessarily notice it immediately and you find your neck turning to compensate which can lead to mild neck pain after a while.
There is probably a way to do it properly, maybe the pre-built models are better at this but then it wouldn't be DIY... In any case, I wasn't satisfied with it, so on to the next option.
EDTracker with magnetometer
Approximative cost :
- Kit from HobbyComponents, with shipping : about 27€
- micro USB Cable : 5 €
about 32€ total
So for a bit more money you get the same benefits as the regular EDtracker, without any yaw drift.
Building is exactly the same, the only piece that changes is the the accelerometer board. Calibrating has one more phase as you need to calibrate the magnetometer but it is quite easy and works well.
It has 0 yaw drift though it sometimes get confused about the magnetic direction and you need to recalibrate the bias in the edtracker software but I found in my experience that it never happens while playing. It seems to happen when I leave the headset flat on my desk. But the recalibration is a trivial process and takes only a few seconds.
I haven't felt any difference between both edtrackers in terms of response, it works great.
Final thoughts
My recommendation is to just go for an EDtracker with magnetometer. I also recommend using OpenTrack instead of using the joystick emulation, it gives you more control over the response curves.
I haven't tried non-DIY solutions, so maybe a real TrackIR is the better option but I'm happy with the Edtracker... Until I get an Oculus Rift
I hope this is useful to prospective head tracking DIYers
Cheers,
CMDR Nid
