Improving Clickable Cockpit usability with head tracking

[Herra Tohtori]

I had this idea and I thought it was sort of nifty, and considering my (abysmal) experiences with clickable cockpits in all flight sims I've tried that have them, I wanted to share my thoughts here.

 

The problem I have with clickable cockpits is that if I want to use head tracking, it's nearly impossible to stabilize your head and keep the view pointed in one place long enough to accurately manipulate the cockpit controls with a mouse. This becomes even more difficult if there's some turbulence or g-forces that also move your view slightly. The problem, of course, is that the cursor is still moving relative to the screen, independent of anything that happens in the game - like changing the view direction.

 

In other words it's hard to use with head tracking of any kind.

 

It's a really nice feature, though, so I wondered if it would be possible to improve somehow...

 

And I got this idea. What if you were to map the controls in the cockpit onto a 2D surface like an U/V texture map (that part is actually already done - assuming the UV mapping of the cockpit is done in a continuous, sensible way you could just use the textures as reference), wrap the control map on the cockpit walls and panels - and then constrain the mouse movement to this 2D surface while you're in "clickable cockpit" mode.

 

The effect this would have is that the mouse cursor would follow the edges of the plane's cockpit panels. It would also stay put on certain position - say, over a certain switch - if you don't move the mouse away from it, even if you look away from that point. You could, for example, leave the mouse alone, look outside for whatever reason (like staying in formation or avoiding enemy attack) and then look back to controls, and the clickable cockpit cursor would be where you left it.

 

Obviously, it should be switchable between the "regular mode" where cursor moves relative to screen X/Y position and moves along when you turn your head, and this new mode where it would move relative to the cockpit surfaces.

 

Possible problems would include slower transitioning from one side of cockpit to another, but I'm pretty sure some smart stuff could be done to make sure you don't "lose" the cursor - such as a button that brings the cursor to the point in cockpit closest to your current view.

 

Any opinions? I would really like to be able to use the clickable cockpits, but as it is, it's nearly impossible to use with head tracking.

[Devrim]

...Any opinions? I would really like to be able to use the clickable cockpits, but as it is, it's nearly impossible to use with head tracking.

Eeer... Mmmm... I agree with you about the problem. So, that's why I assigned "Headtracker pause" to middle button of mouse.

 

If I need precise clicking, I just click middle mouse button, screen freezes and I can click where I want... That's my solution for now. :)

[MTFDarkEagle]

While I have no real issue with trackir / switches now, I like how it's done in falcon BMS. I.e. if you hover your mouse over a switch, it snaps to it.

[Flagrum]

Setting up TIR properly is invaluable. Took me quite some time, but now I am satisfied with the set up. Important is to configure it so it is moving the camera not too "nervously".

 

While I have no real issue with trackir / switches now, I like how it's done in falcon BMS. I.e. if you hover your mouse over a switch, it snaps to it.

I really hate it. While it reduces the number of misclicks, a proper set up TIR is still the most effective way for "precision clicking", imo. And the cases where you still misclick, you get glued to that f**** switch and have to really "violently" move the mouse to get it unstuck ... and then you are waaaay off where you really intended to click ...

[MTFDarkEagle]

Setting up TIR properly is invaluable. Took me quite some time, but now I am satisfied with the set up. Important is to configure it so it is moving the camera not too "nervously".

 

 

I really hate it. While it reduces the number of misclicks, a proper set up TIR is still the most effective way for "precision clicking", imo. And the cases where you still misclick, you get glued to that f**** switch and have to really "violently" move the mouse to get it unstuck ... and then you are waaaay off where you really intended to click ...

 

Hmm yes fair enough, good points.

[REL]

I agree they have to improve it ... especially if this is one of the Sim main features.

[HiJack]

Can’t say I really had any problem like this and have used TrackIR for 4 years now. Imo it works fine if you just make use of TrackIR's "Pause" and "Precision" functions combined with the zoom function in DCS. The A-10C is the best implementation of clickable cockpit I have ever used. FSX cockpits are worse and you can zoom out of the cockpit and then the switches are not clickable anymore.

[Abburo]

Proper TIR/Freetrack setting is the correct option.

 

I am also using multiple TIR profiles that can be changed while playing via shortcuts (this is TIR software feature). Of course, in case of TIR there is one more option near center/freeze which is called precision. I assign a button for this too on my mouse and helps a lot without changing profile.

[Rhinox]

For me "freezing" TIR-motion temporarily was the best option. I assigned one switch on THW-throttle for it, so I can "prepare" suitable view (point, zoom, freeze) at the same time as I move my right hand from stick to mouse...

[atsmith6]

Where I've found the Falcon BMS sticky-switches thing for the mouse invaluable is using the mouse wheel to adjust rotating knobs. Means I can do it quickly and easily without pausing my trackir or changing zoom levels. The BMS cockpit does an excellent job at being easy to use at one level of indirection, i.e. using the mouse to click the buttons. My ideal would be what I call BMS ergonomics in the DCS simulator. When DCS finally gets a proper DCS level multi-role fighter I will be spending a LOT more time in it!

[Herra Tohtori]

My FreeTrack is configured correctly. Reducing the sensitivity would either reduce situational awareness (smaller range of movement) or add a latency to the head -> camera movement chain, making the head tracking unresponsive.

 

And it doesn't change the fact that if you're adjusting some settings in cockpit panels (say, radar settings) and have to keep glancing away from what you're doing, it feels very unnatural for the cursor to move with your view. Essentially you have to re-position the mouse cursor over the control you want to manipulate every time you look away.

 

The reason it feels un-natural is because the cursor in-game is a virtual representation of your hands. Your hands don't move when you look around in the cockpit. You can glance to the side while keeping your hand immobile, close to the control panel. As per my suggestion, the mouse cursor would be tracked as a location in the cockpit's surface, and moving the mouse left would naturally translate to cursor moving "left" on the surface currently in use. It would even be relatively simple to transform the mouse directions to follow the pitch/yaw/roll settings of the head tracking (so that if you roll your head 45 degrees, sideways movement of the mouse still moves the cursor "horizontally" in your view). But the key idea is to fix mouse movement relative to the airframe, rather than keeping it as a classic, free-floating cursor that just moves along when you look elsewhere.

 

Naturally, the cursor modes should be freely toggleable.

 

Caveat: I have no idea how it would actually feel to use this if it were implemented. It's just an idea, and I was interested in hearing what other people thought about it. It would have to be tested, and I'm sure it would take some getting used to. But saying that "correct head tracking set-up" removes the problem is just not true. Adapting the head tracking set-up to be useable with clickable keyboard is probably possible, but doesn't remove the problem, only alleviates the symptoms. At the cost of some of the range or responsiveness of the head tracking.

[FlyingHighAU]

My FreeTrack is configured correctly. Reducing the sensitivity would either reduce situational awareness (smaller range of movement) or add a latency to the head -> camera movement chain, making the head tracking unresponsive.

 

And it doesn't change the fact that if you're adjusting some settings in cockpit panels (say, radar settings) and have to keep glancing away from what you're doing, it feels very unnatural for the cursor to move with your view. Essentially you have to re-position the mouse cursor over the control you want to manipulate every time you look away.

 

The reason it feels un-natural is because the cursor in-game is a virtual representation of your hands. Your hands don't move when you look around in the cockpit. You can glance to the side while keeping your hand immobile, close to the control panel. As per my suggestion, the mouse cursor would be tracked as a location in the cockpit's surface, and moving the mouse left would naturally translate to cursor moving "left" on the surface currently in use. It would even be relatively simple to transform the mouse directions to follow the pitch/yaw/roll settings of the head tracking (so that if you roll your head 45 degrees, sideways movement of the mouse still moves the cursor "horizontally" in your view). But the key idea is to fix mouse movement relative to the airframe, rather than keeping it as a classic, free-floating cursor that just moves along when you look elsewhere.

 

Naturally, the cursor modes should be freely toggleable.

 

Caveat: I have no idea how it would actually feel to use this if it were implemented. It's just an idea, and I was interested in hearing what other people thought about it. It would have to be tested, and I'm sure it would take some getting used to. But saying that "correct head tracking set-up" removes the problem is just not true. Adapting the head tracking set-up to be useable with clickable keyboard is probably possible, but doesn't remove the problem, only alleviates the symptoms. At the cost of some of the range or responsiveness of the head tracking.

 

+1

cursor moves on it's own plane, or cancels out the head movement.

[Aginor]

I also have mapped the TIR pause function to the middle mouse button, and I also have a voice command for it. Works nicely.

 

As for the snapping thing: That's one of the reasons why I don't play BMS anymore. It makes me angry. So no. Please.

[AceRevo]

With trackir, if you have a mouse with one or two additional buttons, you could use one of those to ''pause'' your trackir or use the precision mode. I usually map the reset key and pause key to my two additional buttons on my mouse.

[rrohde]

I am in the same boat. You have to hover precisely over a switch for a steady moment in order to get the label to show up, which can be rather annoying in non-English cockpits, where the gauges and buttons are not self-explanatory due to the language barrier.

 

I also mapped the TrackIR pause-button to my 5th mouse button, which helps in a bind, but I do like the Falcon BMS solution as well.

[REL]

+100%

Edited January 27, 2015 by REL

[Dr_Arrow]

I am using a touchscreen and TIR-5 and think that DCS implementation is fantastic, I can manipulate all switches by just touching the cockpit. BMS implementation is horrible, touchscreen does not work at all there, so please let it be as it is now in DCS, it is perfect.