TrackIR is not a poor mans Occulus, it is a way to literally upgrade your POV hat switch by turning your hat into an input device. The picture below shows the passive reflectors and an optional active IR transmitter on a ball cap, the second half of the device is a sensor which sits on your display similar to where you keep your webcam. Once configured it will enable games that support it to track your head movements and change your on screen point of view to match. If you have heard of TrackIR before it is likely you are an ARMA fan as it has been successfully incorporated into the series and those who have used it swear they will never give it up. For space sims like the upcoming Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen it is also a brilliant way to interface with the game. Techgage tested out several other games with both the passive TrackClip and the TrackClip PRO active sensor accessory in this review, check out which of the two they preferred.
"The TrackIR 5 is unique; it provides us the ability to turn our heads and look around our surroundings with no input from our hands. Does this product have the ability to finally change the way we game or are we doomed to keep playing with baby toys for the foreseeable future?"
Here is some more Tech News from around the web:
- COUGAR 700M Aluminium Gaming Mouse @ Tech ARP
- ASUS Gladius @ HardwareHeaven
- ASUS ROG Gladius @ Kitguru
- Tesoro Gandiva H1L Laser Gaming Mouse @ eTeknix
- Gamdias APOLLO Extension Optical Gaming Mouse @ Bjorn3D
- Roccat Tyon Mouse and Raivo Mousepad @ Kitguru
- OCUK Cherry MX Keycaps and Rubber O-Ring Mod @ eTeknix
- Cougar 700K Mechanical Keyboard @ Hardware Heaven
Also great for racing games
Also great for racing games when you only have a single monitor, being able to actually look into the corner like you would normally instead of just being limited to the straight forward view and finding a surprise concrete barrier waiting for you around the bend.
How do the open source
How do the open source software implementations (FaceTrackNoIR) compare to these commercial hardware options? Are they mature enough to provide similar or good enough experiences?
FreeTrack works just as well
FreeTrack works just as well as TrackIR, but has some non-technical limitations with compatibility due to Naturalpoint being massive arseholes: http://naturalpointofview.blogspot.co.uk/p/trackir-anticompetition.html