Hello folks,

Opentrack Head Tracking Software

I was inspired by this topic by @jetjaguar:
Convert UDP packet to floats?
And this gallery post:
Live Face Tracking (sans OpenCV)

And was working on receiving the UDP data without the java.nio.ByteBuffer and java.nio.ByteOrder library at the time just for the heck of it and to work my brain a bit.

Trackhat opentrack. Custom made head tracking software, tailor made for the Trackhat and Trackhat clip, with our head tracking camera. Based on the massively popular, and ever succesful open source and free head tracking software, opentrack, our software has been made by the lead designer of the opentrack team, who has carefully crafted the perfect user experience to match your Trackhat,.

I do not have a face tracker so used the “Test tracker” input of the OpenTrack software.

Opentrack Software Download

Opentrack tracks your head movements allowing use with games, flight simulation software, etc. Opentrack is a fork of FacetrackNoIR continuing with the development. It supports many different ways to track your head's movements; you can set up a piece of paper that you print special symbols and a webcam. It will then track the symbols. This is built-in software delivered with the PS3 Eye camera PC drivers. You need to go to Menu and from DEVICES choose PS3 Eye Camera before you will be able to change anything. Then go to OPTIONS and click VIDEO CAPTURE FILTER to open the window. Please use it to pre-set your camera threshold before you go to set up the threshold in Opentrack. OpenTrack is a railway simulation tool developed at the ETH Zurich. It is a catalyst for practical economic solutions to complex railway technology problems. As a well-established planning and simulation software it is used by railway operators, the railway supply industry, consultancies and universities in several countries around the world. Download opentrack for free. Head tracking app for games and flight simulation software. Opentrack is an application that can track users' head movements and relay this information to games and flight simulation software. It allows for output shaping, filtering, and the codebase builds on Windows, OSX and GNU/Linux.

The OpenTrack software:
Releases · opentrack/opentrack · GitHub
The images I used are in the software files.

I sized the sketch and image (top left) to match the OpenTrack output (right):

I got this working. The perspective may be a bit off.

That was fun!

:)

HI all,

Given TrackIR implementation, I thought there just HAD to be a way to use my Rift as a headtracking device in MSFS as well as to look through. After a little fiddling I’ve worked something out.

In essence you use the Rift S in the Oculus Dash virtual Desktop, with Steam VR running ‘below it’ injecting the headtracking into OpenTrack software which emulated TrackIR to MSFS! (for SteamVR users I believe the same applies using Virtual Desktop app, with Steam VR injecting the headtracking into Open Track in the same way, however this will only work if you purchases MSFS from the MS Store, as you apparently cannot run two Steam apps at the same time…)

It’s not as good as VR (obviously) but for those of us (like me) who only have a VR headset (and no trackir) this is a FREE way of getting headtracking working, PLUS having a massive virtual screen instead of your normal screen (which in my simpit is a crappy 32' 1080p 10 yo monitor)

So,
Step1: Download OpenTrack https://sourceforge.net/projects/opentrack.mirror/ and unzip using 7Zip.
Step 2: Implement these settings as ‘input’
Step 3 (required for 6DOF): implement these settings for translation for Z, Y and Z as the stock setting is woefully unsensitive (it’s in the ‘mapping’ options screen)
You will also likely want to add a keybind for ‘Center’ under options
Step 4: Open Steam VR. Under Steam Settings, set this option to ‘off’ to stop SteamVR conflicting with Oculus (NOTE - As far as I can tell with limited testing this is IMPORTANT! When I flew without this option checked, SteamVR/Oculus software conflicted leading to massive frame rate drops)

Step 5: Start Oculus and Load MSFS as normal. In the Oculus Software, create a virtual desktop that is large and curved (closest you can get it to your face with a curve is 0.7m apparent distance so play with the size to get the screen to your liking) and then ‘pin’ it using the pin button in the bottom right of the screen. Close Oculus Dash.
Step 6: In Opentrack - click ‘start’ to get the Headtracking software to get the rotation/translation from the Oculus Headset, and inject the movement into MSFS, for you to watch in the Oculus Virtual Desktop!
Step 7: Play MSFS finally with headtracking…

Opentrack Software

FWIW - my Ryzen 3800X and 1070Ti (OC) with ‘Medium’ settings and bulding detail set to ‘high’ was getting 50>60 fps steady on a flight from the ORkney Islands to the Shetland islands and even a 30 feet over water I could look to left and right and not feel nauseous!

Open Track Software Price

PS. While this is ‘good enough’ for now, it in no way replaces proper VR implementation. It is quite apparent that you are still looking at a 2D projection, not a real 3d projection and the sense of scale isn’t quite right.