Head/Eye Tracking

[AKIron]

My 2 cents.

I've had two VR headsets over the years but decided a few years ago they aren't for me. I like the head tracking and visual effects therein but the resolution and loss seeing external devices weighed too heavily against them. I've tried my brothers Pimax with his RTX 4090 and while the resolution is great the other issues still make it not worthwhile for me.

I recently bought a Tobii Eye Tracker 5. The head tracking in that is not as solid as TrackIR for me but the eye tracking made up for it. This would have been a solid replacement for TrackIR but for one show stopping issue. Helmet Mounted Displays used in DCS. HMDs therein always move the center of focus to the center of the screen. Tobii eye tracking does not. That makes the Tobii eye tracking unusable for HMDs in DCS. Tobii support could not help with this. The Tobii head tracking would be fine for this but by itself not as good as TrackIR. So, back to TrackIR for me.

If you only play games that do not require the eye tracking to move the point you are looking at to the center of the screen then I can recommend the Tobii Eye Tracker 5 for you over TrackIR.

[The Fugitive]

If your interested.

Tobii Eye Tracking

[Bolt]

I love TrackIR...get to use my 240hz monitor at 1440p. The eye strain of VR is just not worth it for me...remember when our parents used to tell us to sit away from the TV...why would you ever strap it to your face?   

[AKIron]

The 3D of VR is very immersive. Some won't fly without it. I'd rather have access to my Streamdeck/Touchscreen/keyboard/etc....

Read that Samsung is releasing a new glassesless 3D monitor with eye tracking. According the article author this will be a big improvement over their previous efforts and should be interesting.

https://news.samsung.com/global/samsung-unveils-new-odyssey-gaming-monitor-lineup-featuring-world-first-6k-3d-and-ultra-high-resolution-displays

[AKIron]

If it's under a thousand bucks I'll likely be trying that Samsung eye tracking 3D monitor.

If it centers the screen on what I'm looking at.

The eye tracking in that may just be to provide for the 3D and not move the scene. In that case a head tracker like TrackIR would still be needed. Guess we'll see pretty soon.

[The Fugitive]

I love TrackIR...get to use my 240hz monitor at 1440p. The eye strain of VR is just not worth it for me...remember when our parents used to tell us to sit away from the TV...why would you ever strap it to your face?   

LEDs of the flat screens and VR screens are no where as dangerous as the radiation and magnetics put out by the old CRT screens.

[Vulcan]

I love TrackIR...get to use my 240hz monitor at 1440p. The eye strain of VR is just not worth it for me...remember when our parents used to tell us to sit away from the TV...why would you ever strap it to your face?   

That's not how modern VR headsets work. It's more like a high wrap around screen sitting about 1.5 meters (~5 feet) from your face (due to the lenses, which is the beauty of the system that Palmer Luckey came up with. If you are getting eye strain then you are doing something wrong, I get less eye strain working in VR than I do with a regular monitor. Possibly this is related to the fixed focal length of a VR headset, some info claims that the VR focal length increases eye strain but I disagree as it is typically deeper than a standard monitor (which is usually 2-3 feet from your face).

[AKIron]

Don't recall if I explained the issue with Tobii eye tracking and the HMDs in DCS. I found they are incompatible because the HMD is always in the exact center of the screen. The Tobii eye tracking does not center the screen where you are looking. I've contacted Tobii about this twice and the last time they said they found it disorienting to center the screen so they will not be doing that. Suggesting I use the head tracking instead. I like the Track IR head tracking better so my Tobii sits on a shelf.

Tobii eye tracking is great except for the HMD in DCS.