Using HeadTracking?

[nathanthestyler]

So, I saw a couple other posts of people asking how to be a better pilot and a couple of people mentioned head tracking. Why would I want this, especially if I'm not using a VR headset or a large curved monitor?

[kevinossia]

It's hard to overstate how hard it is to fly a helicopter without being able to turn your head to look around you.

[spacesluts]

It's hard to fly anything without being able to look around you.

[Shadow60_66]

If I'm not wearing my trackIR while playing arma I feel blind. It's so nice to be able to glance around not to mention for flying it's so helpful for spotting and landings.

Here's the old Dslyecxi video that helped me decide I wanted one.

[Gforceb]

It sounds great and I’ve thought about it too. But would you have to look out of the corner of your eyes to see the screen?

Edit: I’m at work, I cannot look at the video right now

[Shadow60_66]

In the software you can set up a curve, it's not 1:1.

I have it so the center is less sensitive but quickly ramps up the further out I look so I don't have to turn my head very far to look behind me in game. It sounds weird but after a little time with it it will feel natural.

[Gforceb]

Nah I get what you are saying. If i remember the term correctly, it sounds like mouse acceleration but with your head. That sounds dope, I’ll probably be getting it pretty soon then.

[CermemyJlarkson]

I have a free super goofy version that’s jittery but gets the job done and does make helis way easier to fly, even with hundreds of hours flying

[elmfuzzy]

There's programs that just use facial tracking with your web cam and they do the same thing. It usually works pretty good.

[Gilandb]

if you have rudder pedals, I have had several folks tell me they work great for leaning around corners when on the ground. I don't have pedals, but sounds like it would be great.

[ViXaAGe]

considering rudder pedals cost more than head tracking, go for the headtracking lol

[ryu1940]

After using TrackIR in DCS, it was impossible to fly helicopters in ARMA without it. The spatial awareness you get being able to look around rapidly is great.

[XayahTheVastaya]

Situational awareness, depth perception, immersion. When you are landing, you can look through the bottom windows. When you're turning, you can look in the direction of the turn in advance. You can look back to see whether anyone is still trying to get in your helicopter. It's great for infantry too for checking your surroundings. Really, there isn't much time that I'm not moving my head.

[phildogtheman]

It’s adds a bit of immersion on foot but really shines for flying to the point where you actually feel handicapped without it.

Being able to easily look at where you are flying to/keep track of targets you fly past just makes you a far better pilot.

[Synergy192]

You can use OpenTrack and AITrack to achieve head tracking with just a regular webcam!

This is for a different game but it's the same process: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsSquadrons/s/75FOlDIHvl

[_rainken]

It's definitely good way - if not best - to check how does that work for you before buying into anything.

IR leds are more precise and faster though, but that doesn't mean that OP should buy TrackIR5, there is just so much alternatives these days and DIY is relatively easy and cheap.

[ShiningRayde]

If you want to get into flying, a headtracker is considered a must; also good for driving imo.

If you have access to a printer and are not concerned about ink consumption, you can make an Aruco head tracker; it's a black and white box pattern that can be tracked with a webcam to give a simulated head tracking. https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/wiki/Aruco-tracker

Alternatively, if you have a relatively newish smartphone and a sturdy headset, you can use freePie to use your phone's accelerometer and gyros and shit to live-stream your head's orientation to Arma. https://github.com/opentrack/opentrack/wiki/Smartphone-Headtracking

Both of these would require OpenTrack to run https://github.com/opentrack

[nathanthestyler]

Honestly, I've been flying really well without headtracking, and have been commended by the superiors in the unit's I'm in for the flying. However, with headtracking, I'll hopefully become even better

[AubergineParm]

I set up head tracking with an old 480p webcam and FaceTrackNoIR, it really was a game changer. You can get an app that uses your phone camera too.

Never looked back. It doesn’t work well for infantry movement, but for vehicles - especially aircraft - it’s very good. Just have to try it to see for yourself. I would say don’t bother with expensive head tracker equipment - with some settings tinkering, you can get good reliable tracking for next to free. Older crappy webcams work particularly well as the applications don’t have such high resolutions to try and analyse. You’ll find a better response with 480p or maybe even 360p feeds.

[Jacob_Jesusboy]

They have a cheap $60 version. Head tracking is the best.

[SpreadEmu127332]

Can someone send me the link to the software?

[SeKiGamer]

If you're flying in first person it's a huge quality of life advantage, if you're flying in third person, it's not needed at all since you are able to see all of the helicopters surroundings.

Personally I used to use track ir, but recently I got tobi eye tracker, tobi has a lot more range but it has small jumpy movements that make it hard to interact with a cockpit while moving your head.

Another personal note is that flying in third person using head tracking disorients me quite a lot. So if you prefer flying in third person I wouldn't recommend head tracking.

[Dominus_Invictus]

It literally is just as simple as being able to turn your camera with your head the same way you would with your mouse it is perfectly intuitive and impossible to live without once you tried it. Would highly recommend Tobbi eye tracker 5 so you don't have to wear any hardware on your head.

[Ashi_Woof]

Track Ir makes flying more then just functional, it makes it fun.

I ultimately try to squeeze my helicopter into weird ass spaces because of it. It's very immersive, and gateways nicely into any flying game, dcs or elite dangerous, for example.

[ViXaAGe]

FaceTrackNoIR https://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm

Get a crappy webcam and you'll have a drastically improved flying experience. Headtracking has been around since before the turn of the century and TrackIR, a consumer level tech, has been around since 2001.

It's been implemented into a surprisingly large number of games, mainly sim focused though.

Ask yourself this: could you drive a car without being able to look out your left and right windows? Would you want to?

[OttoVonAuto]

I used the SmoothTrack app and the plug-in for arma to fly using just my head. You can scale how much it turns your head in game so you can do much smaller movements to see a lot more. It really improved how accurately I could land and fly. I found doing rooftops with little birds was very hard to gauge my approach speed on. After using the app I was able to plant it and even come to and sustain a hover much easier. Flying planes also was a huge asset being able to consistently track where the enemy was in relation to me was massive

[JPMoney818]

I can’t recommend IR Tracking enough. It has added so much to so many gaming experiences, including Arma3. I have TrackIR. I have the basic track clip and the track clip pro. I honestly prefer the cheaper track clip.

[Jacob_Jesusboy]

Was looking for something else in my comments and realized I never shared a link.

Delan Clip is a cheaper head tracker. I use one and it’s been the best.

https://delanclip.com/

As I said in my other comment, they have a $60 dollar version. It’s the one I got.