Can some of you computer hot shots fix this??

[ZQuickSilverZ]

Do you love TrackIR but hate wearing headgear. I have a suggestion to a solution but not the know how to make it work.

 

http://www.seeingmachines.com/product/faceapi/

This is the main program (I Guess.....).

 

This is the program thats supposed to make it work with BlackShark but, noone I know can get it to work properly.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/

 

Can one of you computer hotshots get this thing working and post a how to? I think its time we got rid of the headgear don't you. This thing can track 90 degrees so your head could be sideways and still be tracked. Think of it as a challange to show your computer skills.

[Waldo_II]

OK, so you got the software that utilizes your webcam to track your face to judge where your head is looking, and you got that working.

 

Then you got the plugin to transfer the data from that program to Freetrack, and got that working with the Freetrack software.

 

Now you need to get Freetrack to work with DCS: Black Shark. If you want to read what I have to say about why Freetrack doesn't work with DCS:Black Shark by default, you can read that here, but long story short you have to install a "fix" (codename for "crack") to get Freetrack to work with DCS: Black Shark.

 

You can get what I'm talking about here. TrackIR Fixer.

[fearlessfrog]

Yep, it works with the unencrypted TrackIR supported games, such as Arma II, IL2, FSX etc.

 

The set up is quite a few steps. This FF thread is worth a look for the brave (plus the step Waldo mentions above for BS):

 

http://www.freefalcon.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17850

[ZQuickSilverZ]

Can you post a step by step on how to get this to work??

[fearlessfrog]

Can you post a step by step on how to get this to work??

 

Sure, although I think it is fair to say it does not work very well at all. My main problems were:

 

- It's quite the performance hog, in that on a quad CPU it still took about 10% CPU for me

 

- It can't cope with faces turned too much, i.e. once it loses tracking then it takes quite a while to reacquire.

 

- There is no profile for BS or FC2 so you'll have to fiddle with lots of sliders to get something decent working

 

- You need a decent webcam - my Microsoft HD 720p was ok, but I doubt anything without a decent hardware decoder would work well.

 

Steps

 

(1) Download the non-commercial license version of the FaceTrackingAPI (second link down, requires registration - 136MB download, hint: mailinator works...):

 

http://www.seeingmachines.com/product/faceapi/downloads/

 

(2) Download FaceTrackNoIR Release 1 from sourceforge (bottom link):

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/

 

(3) Download FaceTrackNoIR Update 20100716 (top link, i.e. newest file)

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/facetracknoir/files/

 

(4) Install (1). Note: It will probably put Intel IPP on too (a neat library of Intel utils for things like image recognition etc). This will take a while, and I just went for 'complete'.

 

(5) Install (2). Accept the GNU license etc.

 

(6) Unzip (3) and place the files, overwriting the existing ones from the previous step (look in Program Files (x86)\Abbequerque Inc\FaceTrackNoIR for where to place them - minus the (x86) bit if you aren't x64)

 

(7) You should now have a FaceTrackNoIR icon on your desktop. Start it up, with a 'right mouse button / Properties / Compatibility / Run this program as Admin' if on Windows 7 or Vista and you have UAC enabled.

 

(8 ) Use File / Open and open up the ARMA profile to get started. Change the 'Game Protocol' to 'Fake TrackIR'. Hit 'Start' in the 'Tracker Source' area. You should now see your lovely face, and after about 6 seconds a wee yellow drawing over the top to indicate it recognizes where your eyes, nose and mouth are. It might also just work leaving it as FreeTrack with the next step.

 

(9) Read the step above for BS, i.e. Waldo - as it involves replacing the BS executable or altering it in a way that I am unsure if violate the forum rules or not, so don't want to get into trouble for.

 

(10) Black Shark should now be ready to set up for TrackIR - can't remember what I did before (I actually have TrackIR, and before that a freetrack device, so this was just for giggles).

 

Let me know if that helps.

 

PS I should also point out that this util also supports 'virtual joysticks', i.e. you can emulate the joystick hat or mouselook rather than rely on TrackIR - might be worth a fiddle, especially if you see an issue with step (9)

Edited July 30, 2010 by fearlessfrog

[ZQuickSilverZ]

Thank you fearlessfrog. Im pretty dissapointed to hear about it being a resource hog. Please note that I think TrackIR makes an amazing product. My main complaint is the wire on the TrackClip Pro. You would think just a AAA battery would last a long time in something like that with little weight. You guys think that Natural Point will release a wireless clip? If I had that I wouldnt feel a need to look at other products.

[fearlessfrog]

Thank you fearlessfrog. Im pretty dissapointed to hear about it being a resource hog. Please note that I think TrackIR makes an amazing product. My main complaint is the wire on the TrackClip Pro. You would think just a AAA battery would last a long time in something like that with little weight. You guys think that Natural Point will release a wireless clip? If I had that I wouldnt feel a need to look at other products.

 

You could perhaps just make one, i.e a battery for the existing clip? It's just +5v from the USB wire I believe, but you could put a meter on it and check?

 

Either that or just make a small 3 led clip yourself - the free track forum has lots of guides, and the parts are like 75 cents via Radio Shack.

[topdog]

I suppose there's always the hat clip-on for a wireless solution that never needs charging or replacement batteries ;)

[CAT_101st]

 

Video I made to build a FT hat. with the batery on the hat. You can make the ear pice insted using what is in the video.

[JasonJ]

Thank you quicksilver for starting this thread. I managed to get it working ages ago with PPjoy Virtual joystick, but was rather unusable. So I wanted to try the TrackIR interface in BS. Mine didn't work initially because I didn't realise BS TrackIR was encrypted. After waldo's post, it all worked. :lol:

 

My results:

 

- CPU was drained 10%, but that translated to only 1fps loss in game.

- I found it would track my head well, even past 45 degrees, enough to even turn my head until I could not see the screen.

- Initial default profile was very sluggish and laggy with response as posted by fearlessfrog. I tweak for about an hour, and managed to get a resonably responsive head track with no lagg.

- Problem is, I only have 320x240 x30 web cam, so the view tends to jiggle even when you keep your head perfectly still when all lag is removed. To remove the jiggle I have to re-introduce the sluggish response(smoothing), and there is no usable trade off.

- For some reason, the software algorithm seems to translate vertical head movement as similar to pitch so I could only use only 3DOF other wise glancing upwards would throw my head into the roof. :D Perhaps this was because my head only fills 20% of the web cam space, but I don't have zoom on my cam. Zooming in might remove that issue.

 

Summary:

So unless you have a really good web cam Quicksilver, say 640+ or HD It's not very usable. I can't see it as a replacement for TIR without an amazing web cam. Sure it will work on one like mine, but you will have very delayed headtracking due to needing the smoothing turned up.

 

Another side note, this software has a choice of a few different protocols. I have now found that the PPjoy virtual joystick solution works just as well, (exactly the same that is) as TrackIR interface. The virtual joystick method just takes a few moments longer to set up.