10euro facetrack

So yeah, like the title says i found some plans online for a headtrack device, here is the link with the instructions: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bugsxhhth...ceTrackHAT.pdf
I am not going to rewrite the instruction since they are online they are pretty clear and well writen, i will just give some extra "tips" and some photos.

I used the arduino pro micro (ATMega-32U4) and a breakout module MPU-6050 (3 AXIS Gyroscope Accelerometer) with a total cost around 10euro. You are also going to need some thin cables , the twisted wires from a LAN cable will do. Would be better if you find cables with a single wire inside the isolation (no idea how they call them in english), they are a bit harder and they keep the form that you give them.
http://s10.postimg.org/ktedzszph/227...er_gyrosco.jpg http://s10.postimg.org/44cy3w345/jay...promicro_1.jpg
There is some soldering required (5 contacts) , although its simple if you have no idea how to do it, find someone who knows or find a good online tutorial and try it.

Follow the instructions to the letter, don't skip any steps and read all of it first and then go step by step.
Somewhere in the instructions says "It it Important NOT to move the sensor for several seconds after it powers up.Otherwise you will have some small to severe lag on your Z-Axis" yeah he is saying the truth don't skip it.
When you mount the build on your headset make sure you ziptie or ductape your usb cable to avoid any stress on it.
If you can get a small box to put it on it would be ideal to avoid any dmg by mishandling your headset,
also a PCB is not a bad idea for those who know how to make one (i will upload the printable plans later this week)
Try not to ductape the circuits specially the big black chip.

The final build its really small (usb drive size) and it works perfect, the only disadvantage is that you cant move your head forward to zoom like the IR trackers can (with the given software),
Here are some photos :)
http://s10.postimg.org/5r6r2v4jp/image.jpghttp://s10.postimg.org/z3sjp15fp/image.jpghttp://s10.postimg.org/y5c6mqs3p/image.jpg

Spanakis that is awesome did you make that in just a few hours? lol, i'd love to see it in action!

How does it work in war thunder?

So it's an inertia tracker?




I know some people have played around with rubberbanding (almost literally) their iPhones / Androids to their heads and using their accelerometers for headtracking.

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Originally Posted by AOD_Danneskjold

So it's an inertia tracker?




I know some people have played around with rubberbanding (almost literally) their iPhones / Androids to their heads and using their accelerometers for headtracking.

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I have no idea what that inertia is to be honest. MPU 6050 module is a Gyroscope + accelerometer in a single chip , more info here: http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/MPU-6050
And its extremely sensitive, even when you breath you can see the movement..
About the phone thing, no comments :D

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Spanakis that is awesome did you make that in just a few hours? lol, i'd love to see it in action!

How does it work in war thunder?

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There are some videos on youtube using the specific build i am going to post the link later, an in warthunder is great if you are using a joystick and a cockpit view, on third person view is a big no no.
And you can get it working in game in less than an hour, you have to solder 5 cables flash the arduino , install the software and you are ready to go

I only understand about half of this,but knowing what I know about head/face tracking software/hardware from another use....

1-light.Ambient light/shadows play hell with tracking unless the software accounts for it. I know the lights are "box'for the software to follow/extrapolate the "key' location within that box/i.e. eyes.Perhaps brighter lights?
2-Sensor placement- It seems people are using PS cams a great deal.I dont know where you guys place your sensors in general,but perhaps a lil geometry/math would help? Have someone measure You in "Game position' as it were,then work out the best position for sensor/tracker as it were,and mount it there.Perhaps above/behind the monitor on the wall would be better. I don't know about the sensitivity of these cams/etc but it seems alot of this issue could be solved with proper tracker placement. What about using the tracker-sensor behind You? If that is a better spot for 'seeing' your head movements,it wouldnt matter front/back would it?Your head is a big block *shuddup P'nut...lol* and the eye placement is the same/front to back as it were...Idk..just seems like alot of this issue is geometry and math,one of which I "Get' the other,not so much..good luck with this.I'll stick w/My 1st gen/MarkI/Mod0 tracker hardware.. "eyes in mah dome!' c u on the field!

i have the same mouse :D:D:D

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Originally Posted by AOD_B.Rubble

I only understand about half of this,but knowing what I know about head/face tracking software/hardware from another use....

1-light.Ambient light/shadows play hell with tracking unless the software accounts for it. I know the lights are "box'for the software to follow/extrapolate the "key' location within that box/i.e. eyes.Perhaps brighter lights?
2-Sensor placement- It seems people are using PS cams a great deal.I dont know where you guys place your sensors in general,but perhaps a lil geometry/math would help? Have someone measure You in "Game position' as it were,then work out the best position for sensor/tracker as it were,and mount it there.Perhaps above/behind the monitor on the wall would be better. I don't know about the sensitivity of these cams/etc but it seems alot of this issue could be solved with proper tracker placement. What about using the tracker-sensor behind You? If that is a better spot for 'seeing' your head movements,it wouldnt matter front/back would it?Your head is a big block *shuddup P'nut...lol* and the eye placement is the same/front to back as it were...Idk..just seems like alot of this issue is geometry and math,one of which I "Get' the other,not so much..good luck with this.I'll stick w/My 1st gen/MarkI/Mod0 tracker hardware.. "eyes in mah dome!' c u on the field!

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As best as I can tell, Spanakis hasn't built an Infrared Set-Up. Basically he's bought an item that "feels" movement, and can do it accurately. So you put that item on your head, and if you turn to the left, it can feel the acceleration, the movement, and stopping, and then translate that into movement in game.


It's damned cool stuff. I don't think it needs a Webcam to do it because it's not projecting anything towards the cam and the cam isn't seeing any lights.


If I had any idea you could build a set up like this for $15, I would have tried it first.

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Originally Posted by AOD_Danneskjold

As best as I can tell, Spanakis hasn't built an Infrared Set-Up. Basically he's bought an item that "feels" movement, and can do it accurately. So you put that item on your head, and if you turn to the left, it can feel the acceleration, the movement, and stopping, and then translate that into movement in game.


It's damned cool stuff. I don't think it needs a Webcam to do it because it's not projecting anything towards the cam and the cam isn't seeing any lights.


If I had any idea you could build a set up like this for $15, I would have tried it first.

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True , you don't need the camera and you are not affected by light, but after a couple of days of use i have to say that its NOT perfect, because you can't zoom in like IR setups can, 2nd you have to plug it while the device is not moving and leave it there for some seconds, and its annoying because if you don't there are some drift issues, and almost every time you re-plug it in it confuses the y with x for an unknown reason, u can change that from the facetrack software but its extremely annoying .
PS: i am working on the code to put a zoom option but it will take some time, i am also working on something to use it as HID (Human interface Device) and then it will be plug and play (Those are uncharted waters and i have no timetable since its a side-project)

The Track IR set ups use Z motion (towards the computer) for zoom, most of the time. That's simple enough to bind in Facetrack (IIRC). You could also try to bind zoom on Head Roll. I know personally I turned off roll for everything.

Actually disabling the roll improved the experience A LOT , thanks . I could bind rotation to zoom but it doesn't feel natural , i ll just bind that on the joystick for now.

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Originally Posted by AOD_spanakis

Actually disabling the roll improved the experience A LOT , thanks . I could bind rotation to zoom but it doesn't feel natural , i ll just bind that on the joystick for now.

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That's what I do. You could probably turn Roll back on in a few weeks once you've gotten used to it. As I've said elsewhere, you have no idea how much your head is moving when you play games until you try a headtracker for the first time. But I still have Roll turned off. I also have "Sense of Flight" in the "View Controls" section of War Thunder turned to 0.


War Thunder and most sims have a direct option to make Z Axis zoom, so you don't have to try to manually bind it.