I voted no because I haven't used my setup in a few weeks, but I had ok results with a freeware program called Freelook, an ordinary cheap-o webcam, and a miniature flashlight stuck to my hat. It took a good deal of time tweaking the deadzones and detection thresholds until I got it working well, but it was wonderful for being able to look where I wanted when I wanted. When I LFS I can't help but tilt my head a bit leaning into turns, and with the right sensitivity and center reduction I got the head tilt looking great. Also it was setup so that turning my head to the point just before it became uncomfortable and leaning to the side a bit let me look over my shoulder. It was great! It didn't take very long to get used to turning your head but still looking at the screen - it's just like having another controller or something.

So why am I talking entirely in the past tense? -- Because I LFS at work as well as at home, and it's just more crap I have to lug around with me (cpu tower, keyboard, mouse, DFP, pedals...), a pain to setup, and I look retarded

As for VR glasses, look up the eMagin Z800. From what I've read it's about the best bang you can get for your buck atm. For about $550 you get 800x600 OLED, head tracking, and stereo earphones. More details once I've paid off a credit card or find a cheap one on ebay. (There are assloads of cheapo HMDs on ebay for $150ish, but as far as I can tell they're just pieces of junk.)

Quote from KiDCoDEa :

imho natural point should just stop deving trackir (its getting a bit ridiculous like rocky5) and dedicate themselves at making the cheapest widescreen vr googles with headtracking and headphones/mic.
1280x480 or 1600x600 for example.
trackir concept is a joke to me. its execution is well crafted though.

You're very persistant with this argument aren't you :P

If you don't have a need for it, fine, don't use it! BUt I can assure you that there are thousands of people who NEED it. I simply won't fly without a TrackIR because quite frankly I'd get shot down every time because I'd have lost track of my enemy. I run an aussie sim community at www.vaaf.net and the vast majority of us use trackIR for without it we're disadvantaged. The only alternative to trackIR are unrealistic padlock keys (views that follow an enemy automatically) or impractical VR goggles that simply aren't on the market because it is not feasible (yet). If VR goggles were the go, don't you think a lot of people would be using them by now?

Anyway, be damned if I want a screen an inch or so away from my eyeballs for hours on end, every day of the week.

anyone familiar with edimensional? any comments maybe?

No problems with edimensional here ! I have bought stuff from them 3 times over the last couple of years and I give them 100% customer satisfaction. As a company, they are sound, buy with confidence.

Quote from CSU1 :

Hold on! How are you suposed to look behind you with trackIR? turn your head 180 degrees???illepall

You've got mirrors and if you do need to look behind you i.e. before pulling out into traffic, turn your head right round, you know, like in real life!
To be fair it is an acquired taste. Be prepared to work at it and before too long you are no longer aware of turning your head at all. I suspect too many people want an instant result, you know, like in real life!

Now, if I forget to turn TIR on, it's like having your head in a clamp. Nasty!

Quote from Burnzoire :

You're very persistant with this argument aren't you :P

If you don't have a need for it, fine, don't use it! BUt I can assure you that there are thousands of people who NEED it. I simply won't fly without a TrackIR because quite frankly I'd get shot down every time because I'd have lost track of my enemy. I run an aussie sim community at www.vaaf.net and the vast majority of us use trackIR for without it we're disadvantaged. The only alternative to trackIR are unrealistic padlock keys (views that follow an enemy automatically) or impractical VR goggles that simply aren't on the market because it is not feasible (yet). If VR goggles were the go, don't you think a lot of people would be using them by now?

Anyway, be damned if I want a screen an inch or so away from my eyeballs for hours on end, every day of the week.

the only thing persistant here is your aparent lack of interpretation skills when refering to my own opinion in a thread that requires users to say why they use or dont use trackir. no argument, just an opinion. if u dont understand it or dont respect it, fine, don't use it!

Quote from Shoe Maker :

I use my TrackIR 4 in LFS and I wouldn't be without it.

For me, I found the optimum way to use it is to program a button on my wheel to 'enable' and 'disable' it.

When it's disabled, the veiw snaps to the dafault LFS view. When its enabled I turn my head to see what I want then disable it again.

I don't use it for cornering very often, but it's invaluable when there is another car close to you and you want to look in that 'blind spot' to see where they are... You can hear them, but without trackIR, you can't see them.

45 degrees of instant head movement is ok, but it has it's limitations.

It took me a while to set the profile the way I wanted it, but now I can't race without it.

Best add on for LFS for people that own a wheel and don't have the space for a 6-DOF platform.

strictly IMHO of course...

How did you do that ? Can you give me further details please ?

the TIR unit has a default key to enable and disable the unit, I have mine set to CONTROL + SHIFT + F12

If you look in the TIR software, you will see the default key and you can set your own.

Next I then program a button on my wheel to make the keypress CONTROL + SHIFT + F12

When I press that button, it enables TIR, press it again and it disables it

There is a second button in the TIR software that will 'centre' the view, and I have a second button on my wheel to do that also, again with a keypress like the first.

these two buttons on my wheel are the buttons I used to use to look left and right, so I am not losing any buttons out of this, Im just using them differently.

Quote from KiDCoDEa :

the only thing persistant here is your aparent lack of interpretation skills when refering to my own opinion in a thread that requires users to say why they use or dont use trackir. no argument, just an opinion. if u dont understand it or dont respect it, fine, don't use it!

No need to be rude. Your first post was saying that your opinion is that they should stop making TIR because you think they're pointless. Ok, it's fine for you to think they're pointless, but it's pretty arrogant to suggest they should stop being made simply because you don't like them. Simple as that mate.

Quote from Shoe Maker :

the TIR unit has a default key to enable and disable the unit, I have mine set to CONTROL + SHIFT + F12

If you look in the TIR software, you will see the default key and you can set your own.

Next I then program a button on my wheel to make the keypress CONTROL + SHIFT + F12

When I press that button, it enables TIR, press it again and it disables it

There is a second button in the TIR software that will 'centre' the view, and I have a second button on my wheel to do that also, again with a keypress like the first.

these two buttons on my wheel are the buttons I used to use to look left and right, so I am not losing any buttons out of this, Im just using them differently.

Yeah but you cant use both Track IR and the basic visual feedback assigned to the direction because in order to use the trackIR, you have to assign the feedback to the main Axis. If you have a solution ...

Tanpax:

Im sorry, I don't understand the point you are making

Quote :

both Track IR and the basic visual feedback assigned to the direction

Sorry I cant make any sense of that...

The buttons on my wheel are simply programmed to be 'key presses', nothing more. In LFS I do not have any LOOK LEFT or LOOK RIGHT keys assigned.

The key presses on my wheel simply turn the track IR on and off again, when it's on, it follows my head movements, and when it's off, it snaps back to the default LFS position of 'looking straight forward'

I only turn it on when I want to look for cars near me, then I turn it off again.

Does this help ?

btw I don't understand what was said about losing the 'feel' for the car when using track IR... the view still bops all over the place and you can still feel when the car slides around, and most of the time I'm looking dead ahead anyway. TrackIR doesn't 'disconnect' you from the driver's head.

Quote from KiDCoDEa :

imho natural point should just stop deving trackir (its getting a bit ridiculous like rocky5) and dedicate themselves at making the cheapest widescreen vr googles with headtracking and headphones/mic.
1280x480 or 1600x600 for example.
trackir concept is a joke to me. its execution is well crafted though.

The majority of TrackIR's customers are flight sim fans, and for that application I'd say trackIR is hard to beat.

For me though, trackIR has never worked in racing sims without the major drawback of loosing some accuracy with the visual feedback, which is a major component for 'feeling' what the car is doing.

Quote from Burnzoire :

btw I don't understand what was said about losing the 'feel' for the car when using track IR... the view still bops all over the place and you can still feel when the car slides around, and most of the time I'm looking dead ahead anyway. TrackIR doesn't 'disconnect' you from the driver's head.

As I said above, for me a large part of the 'feel' for what the car is doing is from visual feedback. I find (with how I've setup the trackIR software) I loose some of the precision of this feedback as some of the onscreen movement is head movement and not how the car is moving relative to the track/surroundings. I am willing to give trackIR another try if someone who 'can't live without it' could share their trackIR profile. I have v4 software/drivers with the vector expansion.

it looks cool, but i don't use it.

oh I can live without it don't worry, I only use it for racing because it's there Racing is mostly about looking forward, but flight sims are a different story entirely... I certainly couldn't live without it for flying

Quote from Shoe Maker :

No problems with edimensional here ! I have bought stuff from them 3 times over the last couple of years and I give them 100% customer satisfaction. As a company, they are sound, buy with confidence.

i did not expect company's ad but something about the (glasses) working with lfs. Hows good 3d illusion with them? does it look natural when judging distances?

Quote from CSU1 :

VR goggles I've never seen em in the shops has anyone? How much are they. Omg vr goggles+headphones+LFS=bye bye real world

I have this set up and it is fantastic! z800 HMD from emagin, track IR, Headphones, I'm right in there! Still can't win though!

why trackIR?

The goggles won't track head movement, so combine it with track ir and you can move your head without keeping your eyes focused on a stationary monitor. It'd be good fun, but I really wonder what it does to your eyes.

Quote from http://www.emagin.com/products/systems/Z800.php :

The Z800’s head-tracking system enables users to “see” their data in full 3D-surround viewing with just a turn of the head.

Quote from AndRand :

i did not expect company's ad but something about the (glasses) working with lfs. Hows good 3d illusion with them? does it look natural when judging distances?

Sorry if my response warranted a sarcastic response in your opinion, but your original question...

Quote from AndRand :

anyone familiar with edimensional? any comments maybe?

asked about the company called edimensional.. no mention that you were interested in a particular product, of which they do many....

Quote from goode400 :

I have this set up and it is fantastic! z800 HMD from emagin, track IR, Headphones, I'm right in there! Still can't win though!

as pointed out trackir is a bit redundant there - mind posting pics or your setup?

I use TrackIR on my FO8 Skin (see attached pic) (with premission) We at NASSA also use COOPER Tires on our UF1/UFR (with premission)

Try this site for Cooper tires, it's pretty good.

http://www.coopertire.com/Flash/index.aspx

I think kencan from our team has the trackIR system..or has tried it.

Quote from Burnzoire :

as pointed out trackir is a bit redundant there - mind posting pics or your setup?

z800 head tracker is not accurate enough for racing. I found I had to re-centre frequently. TrackIR is 100% accurate.

As you can see from the pic, I have mounted the trackIR 3 point thingy on my z800

@shoemaker:
3d glasses
or anything else by edimensionl that gives you impression of 3d