Hi guys,
For serious virtual pilots/riders head tracking is not an option anymore but a must, and most of us have found in TrackIR a great ally in our battles...
But every great invention can be improved and here are some ideas that have come to my mind, though I don't know if they are possible or not:
1) instead of having the USB split at the clip, it would be better having it at the trackIR itself, because this is always connected while the clip is not... also a detachable wire for the clip would be great, making it possible to plug a 5V battery (there are small-light-rechargeable ones that would be great for this), this would be perfect when one plays at the coach with the projector and the wire is uncomfortable
2) instead of using IR, what about RF (bluetooth?), this avoids "blind spots" and problems with ambient light, though I know RF speed is far far away from IR speed (maybe the resulting lag would make it non-viable)
3) instead of having the "reference dots" at the clip, wouldn't it be better having them at the base? therefore one could mount their own clips (I know this is not ideal from you business point of view, but it would be really appreciated)
4) Have you thought about adding 2-dot vectoring? I have in mind having a 3-dot for head tracking + 2-dot for fire weapons (all with the same receptor/trackIR, and using the software to configure "group dots" for tracking or weapon as one wished), something like this would rock for games like ArmA or so (I know it would be problematic to control a complex game like ArmA if you keep your hands busy with a gun, out of the keyboard, but it can be awesome as a demo, or in games like Time Crisis). I know there's no game right now that supports such a thing, but maybe there would if the tool is there
I hope you find useful my suggestions.
Regards
Some ideas (probably stupid ones)
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NaturalPoint - Mike
- Posts: 1896
- Joined: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:41 am
- Location: Corvallis, OR
Re: Some ideas (probably stupid ones)
Hello -
I appreciate the suggestions, we're always looking to see what we can do to improve the products!
A few things about how the TrackIR operates, though:
The TrackIR uses an imager similar to that in a camera to actually follow the reflections from the hat clip or the light emitted by the LEDs on the TrackClip Pro and determine position that way. The IR is not a communication method, so much as it is a beacon. Additionally, due to the use of only a single optical tracking device, our vector tracking engine needs specific patterns and some assumptions to be made based on the position of the head relative to the markers that it's tracking so that it can account for movement appropriately. That being said, it's probably not feasable to make the clip modifications or switch to RF.
I do like the idea of having the cable split at the TrackIR instead of the TrackClip, that would allow you to disconnect it as appropriate while still leaving the camera plugged in.
I do recommend the use of a simple aa battery powered emergency phone charger for the use of the TrackClip Pro without a computer to plug it into. It only needs power, there's no data, so you can just plug it into one of those chargers (preferably with rechargable batteries) and go for quite some time without needing to change the batteries.
I appreciate the suggestions, we're always looking to see what we can do to improve the products!
A few things about how the TrackIR operates, though:
The TrackIR uses an imager similar to that in a camera to actually follow the reflections from the hat clip or the light emitted by the LEDs on the TrackClip Pro and determine position that way. The IR is not a communication method, so much as it is a beacon. Additionally, due to the use of only a single optical tracking device, our vector tracking engine needs specific patterns and some assumptions to be made based on the position of the head relative to the markers that it's tracking so that it can account for movement appropriately. That being said, it's probably not feasable to make the clip modifications or switch to RF.
I do like the idea of having the cable split at the TrackIR instead of the TrackClip, that would allow you to disconnect it as appropriate while still leaving the camera plugged in.
I do recommend the use of a simple aa battery powered emergency phone charger for the use of the TrackClip Pro without a computer to plug it into. It only needs power, there's no data, so you can just plug it into one of those chargers (preferably with rechargable batteries) and go for quite some time without needing to change the batteries.