Author Topic: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift  (Read 4231 times)

Offline streakeagle

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #15 on: August 15, 2017, 06:31:52 PM »
I have used TrackIR for years. I got just got the Rift a couple of weeks ago. The Rift is really cool. I love the 1:1 tracking and the sense of being in the cockpit. However, the reduction in resolution is a huge step backwards and the FOV limitations mean you have to really crank you head around to check your 6 instead of just rolling your eyes to the rear while looking over one shoulder. I will say that Aces High is still very playable with the Rift thanks to icons. But when I play DCS World, I never use icons. The low resolution of the Rift is like trying to play the game on a 640x480 monitor which greatly reduces visual detection/identification ranges. You can't really see your opponents clearly until you are at very close ranges. While I enjoy the Rift, I would still rather have a large screen with high resolution and TrackIR for air combat simulators.
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Offline FLS

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2017, 01:08:19 AM »

I do have Win 10.  If there is any question about my 1060 handling it I will just pass, i'm not looking to spend $800-1000 for the rift and a new card.

I think it can handle it, it just won't keep 90 fps with the same settings a 1080 will. The reason I asked about Win10 is that it syncs the Rift with the video card, like G-sync or Freesync does with monitors, so it remains smoother at less than 90 fps that it would with Win7.

Offline Randy1

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2017, 07:30:59 AM »
VR in terms of situation awareness is a major step backwards from trackir unless you have a rubber neck.  Dive-Bombing in VR is harder than regular AH.

Now that being said, the 3-d, full scale affect of VR is worth the loss of SA.  Get a red in front of you and the red will be downed.

Offline cav58d

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2017, 10:13:00 AM »
Where is the rift in its lifecycle?  It's been around for at least a year or two, right?  Is its replacement on the horizon?
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Offline AAIK

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2017, 10:14:42 AM »
Where is the rift in its lifecycle?  It's been around for at least a year or two, right?  Is its replacement on the horizon?

VR is not catching on or is just stagnant atm. Alot of price drops. No news on new models yet.

Offline Skuzzy

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #20 on: August 16, 2017, 10:28:47 AM »
It is going to be difficult to improve the resolution of the VR headsets as they are tied to the performance of the video card and the current generation of video cards can struggle to keep up now.

There needs to be a major paradigm shift in performance of the video cards if better resolutions are to be had in the VR headsets, all assuming the underlying technology maintains the status quo.
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Offline cav58d

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #21 on: August 16, 2017, 10:44:59 AM »
Thanks everyone.  At this point I think I'm just gonna stick with the track ir, I think it's an amazing platform and has enriched my AH experience.
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Offline Randy1

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #22 on: August 17, 2017, 05:58:20 AM »
A M4 was trying to sneak into town yesterday.   I got him but it took two drops.  With trackir and a P-38L, it would be easy to find and dispatch.  With VR, as you go up to setup the run, you lose sight of the tank making you have to find away to remember the tree the tank is hiding under.   With trackir, you do your setup and never have to take your eye off the prize.  Bombing a hidden tank is about 50% chance with VR and about 90% chance with trackir.

We keep hoping trackir and or HTC will develop a program to supplement  VR.

Offline terrydew

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #23 on: August 17, 2017, 07:35:01 AM »
A M4 was trying to sneak into town yesterday.   I got him but it took two drops.  With trackir and a P-38L, it would be easy to find and dispatch.  With VR, as you go up to setup the run, you lose sight of the tank making you have to find away to remember the tree the tank is hiding under.   With trackir, you do your setup and never have to take your eye off the prize.  Bombing a hidden tank is about 50% chance with VR and about 90% chance with trackir.

We keep hoping trackir and or HTC will develop a program to supplement  VR.

I bet the real life accuracy in WW2 of attack plane bombing was not 100%  :grin:

Offline terrydew

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #24 on: August 17, 2017, 07:39:05 AM »
By the way, I am not pushing VR.  I will be the first to say it is not for everyone.  It requires more of you physically than other technologies do.  The headsets can strain your neck.  They get hot.  They do not offer the best video resolution.  You cannot comfortably see the keyboard, or anything for that matter, when you are wearing the headset.

But it is also a very immersive technology.  It puts you in the cockpit like no other tech will.

It is a tradeoff.  Everyone has to decide if it is worth it for them.

Skuzzy could you give us an estimate of the number of people using VR in AH3 now? From the posts it appears the number is still increasing. True?


Offline cav58d

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #25 on: August 17, 2017, 11:06:05 AM »
Has anyone done a rift demo at Best Buy?  My local store has one on Saturday.  Do you know if they use a flight sim?
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Offline terrydew

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #26 on: August 17, 2017, 02:14:04 PM »
Has anyone done a rift demo at Best Buy?  My local store has one on Saturday.  Do you know if they use a flight sim?

Since AH is now on the Oculus home app, maybe they would install it for you. You will never understand how immersive it is until you can actually try it.

Offline 1stpar3

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #27 on: August 17, 2017, 03:23:06 PM »
Good question, that would help out alot :rock I havent been to see if BestBuy's demo has a monitor for Rifts mirror view, but if they do, its easy to see the difference in resolution and depth of the vr. Even in the Rift Dreamscape  program
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Offline streakeagle

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #28 on: August 19, 2017, 11:33:25 AM »
For me, VR is comprised of three separate components: 3d, 1:1 tracking, and field of view.

I had tried 3d back in the early 2000's with Aces High 1 thanks to a set of shutter glasses gifted to me. The 3d looked amazing, especially when landing. I could actually judge how close I was to the ground. But it came at a price: half the FPS since it had to paint two different screens for left and right eye and display them alternately. Additionally, the gunsight was focused at the physical distance of the sight glass, so I would see two images when trying to look at a target in the distance. Despite the immersion of 3d, I quickly and easily decided that it wasn't for me. At the time, I had a 1600x1200 monitor with 85Hz refresh. Aces High 1 would run locked at that with vsync. It was beautiful.

The jump from a pov hat to TrackIR is a big one. It takes a week or two to adapt to TrackIR, but the ability to use head movement to look around and free the POV hat for other functions such as trim controls typically found on fighter jets was worth the cost in money, cpu performance, and view stability. I think I actually had better situational awareness with the POV hat: I knew exactly which direction I was looking and the view was rock solid stable. But with a good TrackIR profile, the gunsight view is stable and I can generally keep track of which direction I am looking. But with amplified head movement driving the view direction, it is hard to "padlock" a target smoothly and still be able to easily go from a forward view to an aft view within the angular limits of the monitor and TrackIR.

The Rift really shines in 1:1 tracking of the view. If someone made a device identical to the rift, but with a single 2D screen at 4K resolution, that would be my preference. Forget the 3D until the resolution/gpu power catches up. Give me 1:1 tracking with 4K resolution in 2D. Also, unlike the TrackIR, I don't have to constantly keep re-calibrating the Rift. Once I am flying, it always seems to track my head correctly.

The field of view is something I don't see mentioned much, but is a huge gain. Most people were using three monitors in a horizontal configuration to have a very wide field of view. But in air combat, the vertical field of view is far more important. When I am flying with the Rift, I can see forward and even up quite a bit to track a bandit and still glance down at the gauges with my eyes. With TrackIR, I have to move my head up to follow the target then move my head down to glance at the gauges and hope when I move my head back up that the target is still where I expect him to be. When you fly a helicopter, such as the UH-1H in DCS World, you can easily see where you are going, the panel, and even the view out of the glass at your feet. This allows you to feel the relative motion of the helicopter much better, allowing much more precise control of the helo with very minor corrections on the cyclic stick. It is in the realm of helicopter flight that I am most conflicted with VR vs 2d/TrackIR. It is easy for me to pick 2D/high resolution for dogfighting in fixed wing aircraft, but VR improves the helo experience so much that I think I just might give up the resolution, especially if I am not flying combat missions.

I have been waiting for years for VR to become both affordable and high enough in quality. It is so close. But I think it is still 3 to 10 years from being good enough for me. I have been waiting nearly 20. If you have $400 to spare, the Rift is worth every penny just to preview the state-of-the-art. In Aces High 3, I think VR is 100% acceptable for air-to-air. But in DCS World, I need the resolution more than I need the 3d/1:1 tracking/FOV... except for helicopters.
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Offline 1stpar3

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Re: TrackIR vs Oculus Rift
« Reply #29 on: August 25, 2017, 03:43:05 PM »
Absolutely spot on,ish. I dont have a few of the issues you described, but only because I have grown accustom and forgotten about them. Long story short ;) If you have TIR and thinking about getting the Rift....DONT give you TIR to your buddy! Unless AH is the only game you ever played. :cheers:
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