Free head tracking!

Tylermon

T
I noticed an interest in that arduino based head tracking.
I thought it was really cool.

But I wanted to share my Alternative.

If you have a webcam, read on! As this requires a web cam.

Some of you may or may know of TrackIR it costs about 150$
FaceTrackNoIR however is FREE.

This software uses your webcam and performs face tracking.
If you play with enough lighting where your camera can see your face this will work.

I should mention that you need to really adjust the graphs and curves though.
Out of the box, FreeTrackNoIR sucks. But after playing and tweaking the graphs significantly. Fine tuning the sensitivity and actual turning/outputs of the software.
I can say I am very very satisfied.

PICS of Curves
Curves.JPG


Translations.JPG

For those if you with a webcam and a desire for some head tracking in game I highly suggest you give it a try.
 
Last edited:

Ulysses_W

Ulysses_W
Tylermon said:
I noticed an interest in that arduino based head tracking.
I thought it was really cool.

But I wanted to share my Alternative.

If you have a webcam, read on! As this requires a web cam.

Some of you may or may know of TrackIR it costs about 150$
FaceTrackNoIR however is FREE.

This software uses your webcam and performs face tracking.
If you play with enough lighting where your camera can see your face this will work.

I should mention that you need to really adjust the graphs and curves though.
Out of the box, FreeTrackNoIR sucks. But after playing and tweaking the graphs significantly. Fine tuning the sensitivity and actual turning/outputs of the software.
I can say I am very very satisfied.
I can post pictures of my graphs and settings later today when I am on my computer. This way others might be able to get an idea of how to adjust their own.


For those if you with a webcam and a desire for some head tracking in game I highly suggest you give it a try.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... iMacs come with a built in camera, I might just have to give this a try.
 

Tylermon

T
My room is dimly lit but the camera does some contrast adjustment

The important thing is it can see your eyes and nose.

The software also let's you use an led light to track if you buy one for like 1$ online and stick it on your headset or hat.

IR also works, most cameras have a small filter you could remove so it can see IR light. Make sure your room has no sunlight if you do this though.
 

Makasouleater69

M
Ben Ryder said:
I play in the dark. Do you think it could work if you use a web camera with a low light setting?
Click to expand...

Just use the program that uses 3 lights. Take a tv remote and point it at your webcam if it lights up red, then your camera can see if. Most can, just use 3 of those remote ir lights, or buy them instead of LEDs
 

Tylermon

T
Makasouleater69 said:
Just use the program that uses 3 lights. Take a tv remote and point it at your webcam if it lights up red, then your camera can see if. Most can, just use 3 of those remote ir lights, or buy them instead of LEDs
Click to expand...

That's exactly what this program is.

You can use
face tracking
1-4 led lights
1-4 IR lights
And even use a remote computer or device for input(for example a laptop with a webcam if you don't have an external can available)

The main thing is adjusting the graphs to get good performance/ desired results.
 

timbow

timbow
Bear in mind that tracking facial features takes processing power away from the game, you also need a webcam with a decent frame rate and resolution to get the best out of it.

The Arduino model acts like a mouse or joystick and sends its x/y/z coordinates to the game natively, all the processing happens on the microcontroller. It's also quite discreet so you don't have a dirty great point model hanging off the side of your head :D
 

Omegahunter

Omegahunter
Tylermon said:
My room is dimly lit but the camera does some contrast adjustment

The important thing is it can see your eyes and nose.

The software also let's you use an led light to track if you buy one for like 1$ online and stick it on your headset or hat.

IR also works, most cameras have a small filter you could remove so it can see IR light. Make sure your room has no sunlight if you do this though.
Click to expand...

If it needs to see your eyes then it will never work for me and a good few other people as I need to wear glasses and I've found that every face tracking programme I've tried don't seem to work with glasses.

Yes its another option to try but unlike the ED tracker it will use some of your PC's processing power to run. The more control options the better. Keep working on it for the people that I'm sure will find it useful.
 

Commandr Sam

C
Tylermon said:
I noticed an interest in that arduino based head tracking.
I thought it was really cool.

But I wanted to share my Alternative.

If you have a webcam, read on! As this requires a web cam.

Some of you may or may know of TrackIR it costs about 150$
FaceTrackNoIR however is FREE.

This software uses your webcam and performs face tracking.
If you play with enough lighting where your camera can see your face this will work.

I should mention that you need to really adjust the graphs and curves though.
Out of the box, FreeTrackNoIR sucks. But after playing and tweaking the graphs significantly. Fine tuning the sensitivity and actual turning/outputs of the software.
I can say I am very very satisfied.
I can post pictures of my graphs and settings later today when I am on my computer. This way others might be able to get an idea of how to adjust their own.


For those if you with a webcam and a desire for some head tracking in game I highly suggest you give it a try.
Click to expand...

How have you managed to get FaceTrack NoIR to work with ED?

If you could post a guide that would be great!
 

Tylermon

T
timbow said:
Bear in mind that tracking facial features takes processing power away from the game, you also need a webcam with a decent frame rate and resolution to get the best out of it.

The Arduino model acts like a mouse or joystick and sends its x/y/z coordinates to the game natively, all the processing happens on the microcontroller. It's also quite discreet so you don't have a dirty great point model hanging off the side of your head :D
Click to expand...

I agree paid solutions will probably outperform. Or at the very least make things easier for people to use. I spent an hour or two tweaking curves and graphs to get smooth precise results.

I personally only get 1-2% CPU usage from the software.
I use a 720p Logitech webcam. Point being that if someone has a webcam laying around they should give this a try before paid options.
If they don't have a webcam this I do not recommend buying one just to use this software.

This software also reports x,y,z it acts like an actual trackIR, can act like a controller, and a few other inputs for games to recognize.

I'm not saying it's the best or perfect for everyone but in my experience with it. I get zero performance impact and get very similar results to other paid alternatives. And the fact it uses thing I already have, is what makes me recommend it to others.
 

Tylermon

T
Commandr Sam said:
How have you managed to get FaceTrack NoIR to work with ED?

If you could post a guide that would be great!
Click to expand...

Yes I have!

It can register just like a hotas or other controller!

In alpha 1.1 I keep it disabled because ED can't recognize more than one controller but the PB should have it working flawlessly!

If ED supports TRackIR it will also support this!

Many options with it to say the least.
 

Commandr Sam

C
Tylermon said:
Yes I have!

It can register just like a hotas or other controller!

In alpha 1.1 I keep it disabled because ED can't recognize more than one controller but the PB should have it working flawlessly!

If ED supports TRackIR it will also support this!

Many options with it to say the least.
Click to expand...

I am in alpha and cannot get ED to detect it? Any tips?
 

Amos

A
best setup for facetrack would be a PS3 eye cam 120FPS, got mine from game for £1.99, I took the IR filter out of it and made a 3p cap, I will try to get it running using the warthunder trick, see if that works, I did get it sort of working under alpha 1.1 but that only see's one joystick so a true test will be on friday
 

Tylermon

T
Commandr Sam said:
I am in alpha and cannot get ED to detect it? Any tips?
Click to expand...

FaceTrackNoIR can output as Vjoy
This is a virtual controller that ED can recognize.

I can't offer up pics or exact set up details because I'm on a ferry. Only have my phone until I get off work later tonight.

You can also output as Free Track I believe it was. This is recognized the same as TrackIR
 

Commandr Sam

C
Tylermon said:
FaceTrackNoIR can output as Vjoy
This is a virtual controller that ED can recognize.

I can't offer up pics or exact set up details because I'm on a ferry. Only have my phone until I get off work later tonight.

You can also output as Free Track I believe it was. This is recognized the same as TrackIR
Click to expand...

I am not a huge fan of using VJoy as I find it to be a hateful little bit of software.

I have tried spoofing my FTN as both free track and TrackIR with no success :(

If any of your getting it working please let me know how. I feel I am really missing out with no head tracking at the moment :(
 
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