James Burgess

I posted about TrackIR a few weeks ago, when I received it from NaturalPoint to review.  Here’s the final review I posted on RaceSimCentral (I do dislike the front page there… and I’ve been drafted in to fix it, but that’ll take a few months at the rate my ‘projects’ are getting done).  Do bear in mind it’s geared towards sim-racers, as that is the target audience

Review written for RaceSimCentral

The TrackIR device, and the head-tracking concept, aren’t new to the gaming community – but many don’t see it’s potential for use in racing sims as much as in, say, flight or combat simulations.

As we haven’t tested a TrackIR product before, we decided to try it out and see how TrackIR affects the sim-racer. For this article, I subjected myself to several weeks of sim-racing (how torturous my job is!) with the TrackIR 4, to see what impact it had on my experience of sims I’ve come to know and love over the years.

For those of you who don’t know what TrackIR is and/or how it works, I’ll give a brief rundown. The TrackIR package contains a small, wide-angle, infra-red camera (45º) and a reflector clip (to clip onto the brim of a cap) – the camera detects light reflected from the clip and tracks the movement of the reflections in order to provide input to programs that support axis-based controls. In short: TrackIR turns your head movements into in-game movements.

The TrackIR 4 provides 6DOF (Degrees-of-Freedom), which allows for yaw, pitch, roll movements, as well as movement along the X, Y and Z axes. Not all games/sims support 6DOF, but most support at least two (which are required for simple free-look movements). For a full list of supported simulations (and the DOF they support), see the TrackIR website.

The device itself is tiny, measuring only a few centimetres in all directions – and with it’s flexible feet, is easily mountable on the top of a CRT or TFT screen and is connected via USB 2.0. Installing the software is a breeze and you’ll be up and running in no time at all. To install the TrackClip (if you purchase one), you simply plug the TrackIR into the TrackClip’s cable and plug that into your PC. The TrackClip ‘add-on device’ provides IR lights instead of reflectors and can be clipped onto a headset instead of a hat.

So, how does the TrackIR impact sim-racing? For years, people have become sick of fixed-angle look commands within sims – they never quite look where you want to, when you want to. Many also tried using the mouse, or a joystick axis for looking, but these views were often clumsy, hard to use, and entirely unintuitive. The TrackIR was designed to meet the need for a smooth, simple free-look function – one that didn’t constrain it’s user to looking only in prescribed directions.

Prior to a few weeks ago, when the TrackIR 4 arrived on my desk, I had always thought that the idea of head-tracking was a bit pointless – I was perfectly happy with the ‘look left’, ‘look right’ buttons on my wheel. However, three weeks on, I can’t imagine sim-racing without TrackIR atop my monitor and TrackClip clipped to my headset.

The TrackIR camera has a 45-degree field of view, which allows for a diverse range of head movements, with only the most extreme of movements going out of range, causing some strange movement glitches. Re-centring the TrackIR’s ‘virtual head’ is a simple matter of hitting a user-defined keyboard bind, which allows for the quick fixing of most head movement glitches that are inherent with the limitations of the software and hardware.

The software for the device is easy to configure and use. It also allows for various settings (such as magnification of movement) that will enable the user to adjust how real head movements translate to in-game movements. The profiling settings allow for different setups to be stored for various types of game – you can decide how many DOF to enable for each profile, the sensitivity of your movements, sensitivity curves, deadzones and a bunch of other useful features.

As far as in-game use goes, I found the TrackIR very simple to set up within most of the modern sims – with Richard Burns Rally proving the most troublesome. As long as a game supports binding ‘free look’ to an axis, TrackIR will work – even if the product doesn’t explicitly support the device.

Racing with the device brings great benefits to the sim-racer. Whether you need to look in your mirrors, take a quick side-glance to see how close your nearest opponent is, or even look down at your dashboard – TrackIR makes these movements and observations much simpler.

Some will no doubt say, “So what’s the big deal? I don’t need to look at those things very often, and when I do, button-look is perfectly viable!” And, I would say, that that’s exactly how I felt, before I tried TrackIR – there’s something inherently useful about being able to control your in-game views in a natural and intuitive way. This really is something you need to try to know what you’re missing. It’s the difference between crutches and a prosthetic leg – it looks better, it feels better, it’s more natural.

A common concern with head-tracking devices is whether such movements feel unnatural or disorientate the user in any way. An unfair comparison is often drawn with the automatic ‘look to apex’ features within most modern simulations, but this doesn’t do the concept of looking towards the apex justice. TrackIR makes the concept feel as natural as looking towards the apex in your road car. However, it is something that you need to get used to - and the first few laps can be a strange concept, but it is well worth battling through. Once you get used to driving in relation to your car, rather than the traditional ‘fixed’ view, you’ll find yourself a whole lot better off.

The mapping between the real-world and the TrackIR world isn’t entirely exact, however, and there are certain movements and behaviours you will have to adapt to in order to fully gain the benefit of TrackIR. When oversteering, it can be hard to gauge the severity of correction required if you turn your head too far into the slide - but this is one of those minor problems that is overcome with time.

As a whole, TrackIR will have a negative impact on your laptimes to begin with (as with all new hardware experiences, from a new wheel to a new seat) - but you’ll soon regain your ‘feel’, the laptimes will return to normal, but you’ll find yourself immersed in a new experience, where looking around by moving your head is normal.

I would make a comparison with a multi-screen setup, but they’re really entirely different monsters. I find that multi-monitor setups help significantly with peripheral vision, but have limited use for providing a smooth ‘look-around’ experience, especially if the monitor frames can be clearly seen. Maybe the best set-up is a frame-less multi-screen setup with TrackIR? Dream on…

On the pricing front, for a good proportion of sim-racers, this product will be a touch on the expensive side and, at USD$180 for the TrackIR 4 Pro by itself (i.e. minus the TrackClip), it’s easy to understand that point of view. In this package, you get the TrackIR itself, a Vector Expansion cap-clip (you’ll need your own cap) and the software installation disc.

As far as the TrackClip Pro goes, it’s primary benefit is seen when regularly using 6DOF – it provides greater reliability for your movements. At an extra USD$40, it may not be worth your money (not to mention, the extra cable trailing from your headset can be a bit annoying).

So, the big question, is TrackIR worth your money? Well, if you’re serious about your sim-racing, and serious about immersing yourself in this virtual world that we sim-racers call ‘home’, then yes. If, however, you enjoy the casual pick up race, and don’t like parting with money for an infrequent hobby, then put your money towards a more reliable wheel, or towards a new sim. Though be warned, once you have a TrackIR, you won’t ever want to race without one again.