Interesting TrackIR discovery

[HomeBoy]

Originally posted by Traveler
My best guess is that the IRTracker is set or tuned for the light frequency of the LED emitter.  As opposed to capturing the light frequency of the reflector.  Perhaps to remove or lower the problem with background glare.  

The only problem I have ever had from the unit has been caused by background glare.  The result was always a snap-down to the lap.  Once I removed the glare the problem of snap-down was removed.

Moving the unit away from the light source tells me that the frequency of the light is an important aspect of how the unit functions.  Light wavy length changes over distance and LED light emit at a set range of frequency.

I use the reflector on the hat and it appears to work fine even with the latest drivers.

All I can say is you are luckier than me!  Until I moved my camera out to four feet, I would get the "lap snap" in total darkness (except for the light of the monitor of course; maybe I should have turned that off too!).   There appears to be degrees of unluckiness too as the four feet trick worked for me but not for Balsy.  Vincent at NP says he has tried numerous times to reproduce this problem himself and cannot.   It makes us "unlucky ones" look like kooks.  Kook or not, I'm telling you there is a problem and it started with the driver that supported the headset clip.

[evilc]

Originally posted by Traveler
My best guess is that the IRTracker is set or tuned for the light frequency of the LED emitter.  As opposed to capturing the light frequency of the reflector.  Perhaps to remove or lower the problem with background glare.

I think you are right. By using active LEDs that can pulse at a certain frequency, it would be possible to say with 100% accuracy whether an IR source is from the head mounted unit or from another source.

I am very seriously considering getting one myself, as in my room I have a light behind me, which I must turn off to use my TrackIR else it confuses the lightbulb with the vector clip.

Personally, my biggest problem though is that if I have the unit on top of my monitor, then when I am sat back and recal, all is good. However, when I lean in, it interprets it as leaning in and crouching down, because the TIR sensor not level with the top of my head, it is slightly above. There is no real way around this, as you want to have your head centered vertically in the middle of the screen, else you are always looking down at the screen.
Even in a perfect world, as your torso does not extend when you lean forwards and your abdomen stays in the same place, you will always lose a bit of height when you lean in.

One idea is to put the cap on backwards and put the TIR unit behind you. However, I have a high back leather chair so this won't work for me

[rodak]

I've had the lap thing happen too.  Movin the camera now........

[Balsy]

Originally posted by evilc
I think you are right. By using active LEDs that can pulse at a certain frequency, it would be possible to say with 100% accuracy whether an IR source is from the head mounted unit or from another source.

I am very seriously considering getting one myself, as in my room I have a light behind me, which I must turn off to use my TrackIR else it confuses the lightbulb with the vector clip.

Personally, my biggest problem though is that if I have the unit on top of my monitor, then when I am sat back and recal, all is good. However, when I lean in, it interprets it as leaning in and crouching down, because the TIR sensor not level with the top of my head, it is slightly above. There is no real way around this, as you want to have your head centered vertically in the middle of the screen, else you are always looking down at the screen.
Even in a perfect world, as your torso does not extend when you lean forwards and your abdomen stays in the same place, you will always lose a bit of height when you lean in.

One idea is to put the cap on backwards and put the TIR unit behind you. However, I have a high back leather chair so this won't work for me

Ive found wearing the hat in a "Cooter" sort of way (thats slightly tipped up for you non-Dukes of Hazzard types) eliminates the tendancy to look down when you lean forward.

Just a tip.

balsy