Date: March 30, 2006 - Author: Matthew Harris - Editor: Rob Williams
There are ways of gaming that we're all familar with. Today we're taking a look at a way of getting 'into' the game in a new way, using your head. Literally.
Input devices for PC gaming have long been locked into a few types: Game pads, Wheels, Joysticks (with and without rudder pedals), Keyboards and Mice. Most gaming devices are generally a variation on a theme. They substitute for keyboards or mice in game making life easier for players by decreasing complexity or trying to. Every so often there comes a product that breaks the mold and allows for additional gaming freedom. Footpads, Gaming gloves and others have come out in the recent past that were aimed at bringing a new level of interactivity to gaming.
Most have met with various levels of success. Some are still around while most have come, made a bit of a noise and disappeared leaving many people wondering where they were when that product came out after they hear about it (IF they hear about it at all) and leaving the owners with a product with limited usefulness and no support.
Today I'm taking a look at the newest input kid on the block. The NaturalPoint TrackIR 4:PRO. The TrackIR 4:PRO consists of a clip with three reflective points that you either clip to a hat or headset and a USB module that sits atop your monitor and tracks the reflective spots on your clip and translates those movements in the drivers included with the TrackIR Pro into 6 axis movement in games that support it.
From the NaturalPoint site:
TrackIR Changes Everything ::
Experience real time 3D view control in video games and simulations just by moving your head! The only true 6DOF head tracking system of its kind. TrackIR takes your PC gaming to astonishing new levels of realism and immersion!
The TrackIR 4:PRO is NaturalPoint's premium product - the best optical headtracking system available.
Put Your Head In The Game!
Moving Your Head Changes the View ::
As you move in your chair and rotate your head small amounts : your game-view will precisely correspond.
You never have to look away from the monitor because all aspects of your motion are amplified and adjustable.
Degrees of Freedom ::
There are only 6 ways you can move around in 3D space. There are 3 ways to lean, and 3 ways to rotate.
The technical term for all of these movements is "6 Degrees of Freedom" (or "6DOF").
True 6DOF support is one of the main things that puts TrackIR well ahead of any other input device.
TrackIR Enhanced Mode ::
When a game developer builds support for TrackIR directly into the code for their game, we call that game "TrackIR Enhanced". The latest TrackIR Enhanced titles are always listed here.
TrackIR is a new form of input that doesn't affect the mouse, keyboard and joysticks you are already using. Those other inputs are now freed to do the things you'd expect your hands to be doing, completely independent of your new head-tracking view controller.
3D From A Flat Screen ::
This whole experience is commonly called a "VR fishtank" method (as opposed to the "VR Goggles" experience you may have seen in movies), because you don't have to wear any sort of headset or hardware. Everything is handled using advanced motion capture techniques.
The point of TrackIR is to make controlling your game's view completely seemless and natural. You will forget you have TrackIR setup at all, because looking at your monitor is like looking through a window into a 3D world.
Customization is the Key ::
What makes TrackIR much more than joystick or mouse are the ways TrackIR's software lets you customize how your movement will be processed for each of the 6 Degrees of Freedom
.
You can make your left/right rotation very fast, so you can turn 180 degrees in your game by just moving an inch in real life. You can then make your up/down rotation very slow, perhaps because you're in a car and there's nothing of interest to look up or down at.
You Want 6DOF Control, Even For a 2DOF Game::
TrackIR tells your game exactly where your head is, in 3D space. Not all games take full advantage of this input, because there wasn't an easy and cheap way to control your game in 3D space before TrackIR. But since TrackIR knows exactly what you're doing, it will be easier to control the game. For example, leaning to the right won't be mistaken for turning your head. That's the benefit of separately tracking all of the "6 Degrees Of Freedom" in which you can move.
Now, you might be asking "What does this mean for me and my gaming?" Well, I've been playing Flight Simulator 2004: A century of flight with it for the past week and in that game it allows you to look around the cockpit of the plane and see more of what's going on. trust me on this, when you're flying a Lear 45 in real time to Hawaii you need something to break up the monotony. It allows you to look at the controls in the virtual cockpit view and see all of the controls available rather than the few controls that fit in the 2D cockpit normally seen in the game.
I spoke to Warren E.B. Blyth last night on the phone about TrackIR and it's support for FPS titles which are my preference and found out that they made a mod for Half-Life 2 as a tech demo and you can view videos of that mod here. In the video you can see that the TrackIR allows you to look around the game using your head movements while using the mouse for aiming your weapon. Imagine the freedom in playing a death match where you can point your weapon in the direction that you believe the threat will come from then look over your shoulder to make certain nobody's sneaking up on you!
That's awesome! Warren told me that while he was a the GDC last week he met with the guy that made the CS mod for the original Half-Life and he requested the SDK for the TrackIR so that he could port support for the TrackIR into CS. Warren also told me that Valve is interested in the TrackIR although they don't have the time to port it but they suggested that Warren contact a mod team about porting it into HL2 and after reviewing it Valve would add the support. That's very exciting news!
In the earlier images of the product I'm sure that you noticed that I had a neon light behind the tracking module. During testing I had it on to see if the light from it reflecting on the clip caused issue. I also had the TV on behind me to see if it cause problems and neither one caused so much as a blip to the process. The tracking was smooth and precise throughout the entire time.
If you're curious to see game play with the TrackIR, seeing static screenshots won't do much to show you how it benefits you, NaturalPoint has both videos that they've made to showcase their product and videos made by users showing it in real world use so that you know they're not just part of a press kit. Sadly yours truly doesn't have the software needed to get real time gaming videos so I can't share my experiences with you but I can tell you that it is cooler than playing without it.
I'm not a big flight sim fan so to me the hours of flying are boring and trying to land is just a joke, I did manage to set down in a farmers field at one point, oddly enough I think I know the guy (Well, know of anyway's) since I was flying out of and into an airport I used to strip planes at. That 'tis a tale for another time though. The point is that on a highly realistic game such as FS'04 adding another notch of realism easily justifies the rather steep price of $179.95 (MSRP). I know that for people that easily spend thousands of dollars building multiple monitor flight simulators with slaved PCs driving upwards of 6-10 monitors for the hyper realistic flight experience the amount of the TrackIR will be a drop in the bucket and easily worth the investment.
Once the support for FPS players comes into being for the uber popular games you'd be a fool to not buy one. Especially if you play competitively since having your head no longer tied to where you're aiming gives you a huge advantage. If you haven't downloaded and watched the video I linked to you owe it to yourself to see it, the potential is purely awesome.
Here comes the part of the review I'm not looking forward to, the score. Sadly as awesome as the TrackIR is it's a niche product right now, if you're within this niche it is beyond value but if you're on the outside looking in you're going to be looking at the money you'd lay out on the TrackIR and wondering if it would be better spent on a cooling upgrade or some new ram or put towards any score of other upgrades. At least right now.
That said don't think that the score I'm giving it is a knock against the TrackIR and it's functionality, it's not. It's because of the very narrow support at this time. If you're a flying sim fan or a driving sim fan you're looking at a must have item but if you're into FPS or TPS there's not much love for you at the present time but that is likely to change.
For now I'm giving the TrackIR a 7/10 but it would be getting 2 points higher if its game support was more widespread. Once it's no longer a simulator niche product I'll go back and re-evaluate it in an all new review with a new score for fairness to everyone.
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