Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Piddy
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Piddy »

quote:Originally posted by Charlie:
It will make a huge difference in car sims and NP is already deep in work with some developers of more popular racing games to get full support added.Can we get some footage? I find it difficult to visualise the benefits ... so far the Vector Expansion videos have been all flight sims.

quote:Originally posted by Charlie:
If you do not see the value in it, dont buy it. The price is justified. And it is a bit more indepth than a little software upgrade and 'a few extra dots'...Justified? By who? Certainly not my wife. Don't get me wrong, I love geeky toys and think it's great but the benfeit of use whilst racing is hard for me to see. Maybe some vids will change my mind.

As for the complexity - can you explain a bit more.

To me it sounds like this is what the software has to:
- track 3 dots
- from the default position, calculate their position on the "Track IR screen" to determine position of the head (side-to-side).
- calculate the relative distances and angles between the dots to determine how far away you are and what direction you are looking.

All seems like year 11 math to me.
Charlie251
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Charlie251 »

Not even close and I cannot go into it. Maybe Jim will explain it again in this thread. It is FAR from being that easy.

There are no racing sims that are 6DOF capable right now. The only two games that are is FS2004 and CFS3. There will be more games added ASAP. From the looks of things, the number of games should be doubling every month for the next few.

There are many games in development that are already confirmed for Vector capabilities... BoB, Fighter Ops, ect.

If you are waiting for videos of racing sims, youre going to have to wait a little while longer.

The price is justified for how much time, money, and energy went into the product from birth to release... and then even further!
Piddy
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Piddy »

Thanks... I'll be patient and wait.

I'd be very interested in hearing more about the math involved if possible.

[ December 08, 2004, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: Piddy ]
Jim
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Jim »

Hello:

- We plan to announce several racing titles over the coming months with full Vector 6DOF support. I understand that you want to see this in action and we will make some videos to show it off. Overall, I think that having roll in a racing game will be loads of fun, also just the extra level of realism of being able to shift in your chair and have the same thing happen in the game is way cool.

- The math is also very hard. It was way above our heads and needed help from a PHD. We could have used simple triangle math, but that doesn't give you a real 3D position. We actually know where the head is in full 3D, down to the mm. This is done by computing the lens, pixel size and location of the triangle using advanced math. I know the names of the types of equations used but can't post them as they are a trade secret. Actually doing 6DOF with a single camera and only 3 dots is very hard. I am glad that we make it look easy, that is the point.
Piddy
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Piddy »

Thanks again for the reply.

I would think that first person shooters might also benefit ... imagine poking your head physically around a corner! That might also make nice replay footage and possibly open up a new market for you. Guess you're probably already on the case.

Another question ... what happens if you tilt your head 90 degrees to the side? Apart from the click in my neck ... will the TrackIR follow ok? Does it have rotation limits?
Charlie251
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Charlie251 »

You can make yourself down right sick as a dog using the roll feature in FS2004! Just for fun I cranked the settings on the roll up and jumped in there and was looking upside down out the window! LOL

The FPS market is a very interesting one that I have been personally trying to get developers to jump in on the 6DOF market. With Vector, they will be able to detach the head from the body. Meaning, you can look one way while running in another! It will fully simulate the real body in the game.

Very Very Very cool things to come!!!
oqvist
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by oqvist »

About fps games I don�t know if that is desirable. Because real army you point the gun where you look because that is the quickest way to fire.

So am not sure it would be more than a really cool gimmick. Also aiming is of major importance in fps games and many are very frantic. To get your head back in the right direction while aiming can be pretty hard.

But hard to say when you haven�t seen it but it seems like TrackIR is absolutely made for flight sims, are very nice for racing games and of less use for fps games.

Maybe for more slow paced fps games like sneak em ups. Imagine Thief 4. Lean left and right where you actually aren�t supposed to do much gun fighting at all.

As for games like Half Life 2 or Far Cry or on-line shooters probably to fast paced to really help your gaming.
Charlie251
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Charlie251 »

That is not always true. There are many times that I maintained a specific aim on an area while scanning a larger zone with my eyes. I have also looked around corners when my weapon was not. so as to maintain a very small profile to the enemy on the other side.

With Ghost Recon 2, you will have the weapons that have internal cameras and you can hold it around the corner and see what is out there on a small eye display... so your head and weapon will not be pointing in the same direction again.

It is a major improvement to the reality of FPS. Take it from me, I spent quite a few years playing Marine.
Captain_Krunch
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Captain_Krunch »

I wear glasses when using my TrackIR, so I've place the dot on the center of the glasses right above the bridge of the nose (Don't worry, these are computer-only glasses, so no one sees me wearing a goofy dot!). Do you guys think I could add 2 additional dots at the lower left and right portions of the glasses and get the same affect as using the clip? Or does the Vector software depend on the depth of the 3rd dot, as shown in the metal clip photos?

Based on another thread that's talking about use of Vector with a headset, I'm betting the answer is "maybe in the future, with a software upgrade". If so, perhaps in the meantime you could consider offering some sort of clip-on metal clip for glasses? Please let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,
Krunch
Jim
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Re: Full Vector Expansion Demo Video is UP!

Post by Jim »

Hello:

You must use the clip exactly as is. We have mounted it on a few different headsets around the office and it seems to work nicely. I think it will be fine for your use.
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