geneb

This was just posted to the KS page: "The current prototypes need an IR marker every 110 degrees for seamless tracking if you wanted to make a dome or large wrap around. The sweet spot for retro distance is half meter to 3 meters." "We will document the modulation scheme on the IR markers, so others can homebrew them. A marker for tracking only requires a inexpensive microcontroller and a IR LEDs. We will have more off the shelf options for IR tracking as the project matures and reaches production." g.

Well get your ass over to the forum and ASK. :D g.

castAR supports multiple tracking targets. This means that you're NOT facing a single target, TrackIR style. With multiple tracking targets in your environment, there's no reason you can't crank your head around to look directly behind you without losing tracking. Tracking is a 1:1 ratio - it does NOT work the way TrackIR does. A VR rig like the Oculus Rift is totally useless for flight simulation. Sure, you've got a HOTAS, but what happens when you try to lower the landing gear, adjust the radios, pull a fire handle, select a menu item on an MFD, etc. If you have to interface with a physical environment, VR is more of a problem than a solution because you can't see your environment to be able to interact with it. I don't know what the horizontal and vertical FOV is yet, but I've posted that question on their forum about it and a few other things. The castAR is going to completely revolutionize DIY cockpit building and fight simulation in general. If you don't understand that, then it's your loss and that saddens me. A friend and I built the only DIY collimated display ever built and the castAR junks it. g.

She mentions in the longer video that they're now working with "HD" projectors which I'm assuming is different from the 720p projectors they were working with. From the things I've read, the latency isn't an issue and the head tracking is within .07mm. The tracking also handles "zoom" (kind of like how trackir will "zoom" into the panel when you move your head closer to the screen), which is something that OR doesn't handle (or so I've read). I bet if you sign up for the forum and post your questions, they'll get answered as soon as they wake up from catching up 2 days of lost sleep. :) g.

The canopy glass would be too close in (I think the min focus distance is around 18-24"), but you could probably build a shell around the outside of the canopy that would do the job - I may do this myself. I'm still in the "my head is exploding" phase. :D I'm still on the fence on whether or not I'm going to go from *two gamer package* plus the extras I wanted, to the *EARLY castAR GLASSES* level PLUS the two gamer package. My poor credit card is in the corner whimpering as it is. :) g.

You could use the retro-reflective material as wallpaper and have a huge environment to work in. Table top gaming is a simple and easy to understand example. I'm going to be using this as the visual system for my F-15. I don't put down serious coin for something I think _might_ work. The potential for this makes my collimated display efforts laughable. Imagine building a "display cube" like Flim, but not having to buy a single projector to make it work? It's like that. You can add as many tracking targets as needed in order to guarantee coverage where ever you can move your head. (They're going to release the specs on the targets so you can make your own if you want - they're modulated IR LEDs driven by a microcontroller.) g.

Indeed. I certainly hope that ED are paying attention. :D The KS has only been active about six hours and it's nearly to the 50% mark. g.

Check it out: Great overview video from Jeri about how castAR came about and what it does. g.

It may not be an issue MAC. Check out this post: http://technicalillusions.com/forums/thread-70-post-325.html#pid325 g.

You misunderstand - I'm not talking about projecting the whole cockpit from the game, JUST the displays. You'll have a physical MFD (like the Thrustmaster MFD button collars) with a card coated with the screen material on it. Since the castAR knows exactly where your head is, it can display the MFD symbology on that screen when you move your head to a position where it would be visible. Note that even if you did display all the cockpit artwork, the only thing you'd actually see are things aligned with where the retro-reflective screen material is positioned. The head tracker appears to work something like a backwards TrackIR. Instead of the camera sitting on the monitor and the IR targets sit on a hat or whatever, the camera is on the castAR and it uses tracking targets that sit on the table. I found out today that multiple tracking target boards can be used in order to give you complete coverage, no matter where you put your head. This means that if the bad guy goes screaming past you, you can crank your head around to keep him in sight without losing head tracking. g.

and LOOKING outside the box. :D MAC - the camera they're referring to is the black disc that sits between the two projectors. It's works with the motion tracking, but I waiting for more detail on it. g.

Thanks Mac, I'll ask. g.

Keep in mind that they're showing prototypes right now - the production part may wrap a bit more around your eyes. If it doesn't, I'll stick a bit of cardboard in there. :D g.

Yes to both questions. :) Could you just imagine the fun you could have with these things? Add to Aces High or War Thunder...*wistful sigh* g.

To be honest, I have no idea. I'll ask! :) [edit] Can you point to me where you found that quote? AFAIK, there's no camera mounted to the castAR itself. I think the camera you're referring to may be the one used to do the video.... g.

As most of you know, I'm the kind of flight simulator geek that turns the knob to 11 and snaps the thing off. I'm often used as an example when arguing with a spouse - "See honey, it's not that bad! I could be doing what geneb is!" Yesterday I had an email conversation with Jeri Ellsworth, the hardware engineer behind an augmented reality product called castAR. What I learned took everything I thought possible with flight simulator display systems and upended the box into the street. I thought the DIY collimated display system that my friend Wayne & I built was the pinnacle of home cockpit building. Boy was I wrong. You've read about Flim and others building display "cubes" to use with DCS - it takes 5 or 6 projectors, a ton of room and even more money. You've read about people building instrument panels with expensive, special sized LCD panels in order to display MFDs and other avionics. With castAR, that ends. You don't need the projectors any more. You don't need the LCD displays for your instruments any more. All you need is a castAR and some retro-reflective screen material. The castAR is augmented reality in the most literal sense. The glasses you wear sport a pair of 720p pico projectors and a head tracking system that's good to .07mm of positional accuracy. Those projectors don't put out much light - in fact, unless you're looking at a retro-reflective surface (think movie screen) you won't see what they project at all. Now imagine a cockpit environment where the cockpit is surrounded by this retro-reflective material (it's a reasonably priced fabric). Every where you turn your head, you're going to see the outside view, correctly oriented and focused. Inside the cockpit, instead of a thousand dollars or so of LCDs for the MFDs, HUD, etc, you've got little squares of retro-reflective material inside the bezel frames of the avionics. The castAR knows where you're looking and it can show you the avionics in the cockpit right where they should be. Here's a demo video Jeri posted today: After watching that, I discovered (once again) that it's impossible for a grown man to retain any dignity while giggling like a little girl. Because of how the material reflects light, it's possible for two or more people to share the same reflective surface. This means that doing tandem cockpits is now a realistic choice. The Oculus Rift is a cool device with some interesting VR applications. Unfortunately, it's totally useless if you have to interact with both a physical and virtual environment at the same time - you try manipulating cockpit controls you can't even see! When the castAR hits the streets, the Rift is going to be a cute, but obsolete technology. I'm really hoping the guys at Eagle Dynamics will add castAR support to DCS. From what I've been told, support is a pretty straightforward thing to add. Head over to http://www.technicalillusions.com and join the forum. There's going to be a Kickstarter for this come October 15th. I now fully understand how fanboys are made and I've been mumbling "TAKE MY MONEY!" A LOT lately. :) g.

Not a stupid question at all. Essentially, you want your head to be at the volumetric center of the cube. For example, if your cube was 2400mm x 2400mm x 2400mm, your head position should be 1200mm x 1200mm x 1200mm. g.

You also could offer a "low fidelity" version that's not resin cast for a cheaper price. g.

Metal grips are used in "real life" on a few aircraft. I know that the F-16 stick is cast aluminum and I think the A-10C grip is as well. The F-15E, Post-MSIP II C and F/A-18 grips are cast plastic (or some other non-metal material). g.

Just FYI, neither the grip, nor the throttle quadrant handles are made of metal in the F-15. Here's a pic of an opened grip: http://www.geneb.org/images/opened-grip.jpg g.

Do yourself a favor and avoid Makerbot at all costs. If you want to go with a pre-assembled machine, I would recommend the LulzBot TAZ. (http://www.lulzbot.com) If you're up to building your own machine, a Prusa i3 design is a good, simple to build machine. You can learn more about that here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Prusa_i3 People seem to like the design. If you want a kit, go for a Rostock MAX - I wrote the assembly manual for it and it's a GREAT machine. :D (see http://www.geneb.org/rostock-max/geneb-orange-menace.jpg) :) You should also hang out on the #reprap IRC channel on the freenode network. You won't find a more knowledgeable bunch of folks on 3D printing. I'll be happy to answer any questions you've got about 3D printing - just PM me. g.

I just took a peek at the 6mm dxf and it should fit easily on a 4x8 sheet of material. I'm in Washington State, so I have a good hand on what's available. :D I'd highly recommend going with a Baltic Birch if you can afford it. You'll get true 12mm and 18mm thicknesses and it's a very strong plywood. Are you planning on hand-cutting all the parts instead of running them on a CNC machine? g.

Going JUST by memory, I don't think the 6mm or 18mm parts even took a half sheet. I'm not in a position to check at the moment. g.

Is there any interest in printed parts for doing stick extensions on the Warthog? g.

The only A-10C grips I have are the Thrustmaster ones. Is that adequate? g.