Something simple for cheap beam eye tracking.

Cazzie

Cazzie

SOH-CM-2024
Beam Tracker, $30.00, plus freeware Open Track. All you require is a good webcam. Watch the YouTube video, works in Cockpit Mode only in both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. I can attest that this is by far the cheapest you are going to get for an eye tracker.

Cazzie

Demo Video:

Beam Eye Tracker link: https://beam.eyeware.tech/

The link to download Open Track is on the Beam Tracker site.

Tom, this should be a sticky, the best part about this is not only it's low cost, but its utter simplicity. Here's a little video I made testing the programs right out of the box with no calibration adjustments. It's a real immersion factor on my 32-inch 4HD monitor.

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I see no replies, so evidently no one has tried it. It works absolutely fabulous in either sim. Even works in External View in MSFS 2024. My brother already had a web cam, so all I had to do was have him purchase Beam Tracker and I took it from there. He loves it. And the kicker is, you can assign a key to toggle Beam Tracker. If you don't wish to use it, simply toggle it off. I guess most simmers here are flying in VR and have no need for a head tracker. I cannot afford a VR headset, so this is my only choice.

Cazzie
 
Cazzie said:
I see no replies, so evidently no one has tried it. It works absolutely fabulous in either sim. Even works in External View in MSFS 2024. My brother already had a web cam, so all I had to do was have him purchase Beam Tracker and I took it from there. He loves it. And the kicker is, you can assign a key to toggle Beam Tracker. If you don't wish to use it, simply toggle it off. I guess most simmers here are flying in VR and have no need for a head tracker. I cannot afford a VR headset, so this is my only choice.

Cazzie
Click to expand...
Well, not necessarily. I haven't tried it and I don't do VR.

You might say that I'm slightly fossilizing... :) In truth, it's the fact that I'm still at work and have a (sometimes too) developed social life.

Priller
 
Quick solution at a reasonable price.
20 years ago I bought TrackIR because the software of the other available webcam eye trackers wasn't up to it.
Big plus using the active reflector is it works in low light.
I've never regretted buying it, VR was U/S back then.
I have an annual rental look at what's new in that field, so far am dead happy to return to the TrackIR.
 
I literally burnt out three Track IR units (1 x TIR3, 2 x TIR4) with years of use (they went blind in the left eye/sensor every time!) before I switched to Track Hat and I used that for a while but didn't like the early versions of Open Track compared to the TIR software so I stopped using head trackers for years. The advent of Tobii got me interested again but it was beyond my budget as was TIR5.

However, after seeing the info and video above I took delivery of a 4k UHD webcam today and DL'd the Beam and Open Track applications to see how they would work in P3D v4.5. So far I have the hardware connected and talking to the sim and movement in the VC! :) I now have to set up button bindings for centering and on/off and get all the axes configured to how I like them.
 
The thing is, it's not a head tracker, it actually tracks your "eyes". I am still working on calibrations in Settings for Beam Tracker. It's been a whole new experience in a flight sim for me.

Cazzie
 
Here's another rather drawn out demo on Beam Tracker showing how to adjust your settings. The fellow just carries on a bit too much.

Cazzie

 
I had it set for head and eyes but switched to just head until I got the settings correct, there was just too much happening at once. I also disabled all the DOF (directions of freedom not depth of field) except for the one I was setting up and that help to isolate what was happening. I found it a bit hard to get a balance between the Beam settings and the Open Track settings initially and had the Beam settings maxed out but I have since dialed them back to 50% on the sliders which seems to have helped with the Open Track settings in the sim. I'm getting there but it still needs a bit of tweaking when looking to the right and it's too easy to pop my head through the roof of a GA so some work still to do.

Overall I am impressed and it's nice to have head tracking back again! (y)
 
Lagaffe, I tried AITrack with Open Track. The only advantage is the price for AITrack, free. But Beam Tracker with Open Track works much better, supports 4HD web cameras and has many more settings. Try it.

Cazze
 
Priller said:
Well, not necessarily. I haven't tried it and I don't do VR.

You might say that I'm slightly fossilizing... :) In truth, it's the fact that I'm still at work and have a (sometimes too) developed social life.
Click to expand...
Hey now, I have a too-active social life too, and I do VR. :) Of course, VR has been my day job for the past few years, which helps justify it.

I'd totally have loved to have seen this before I bought a Tobii Eye Tracker 5, Cazzie. This sounds like it might work nearly as well for a fraction of the price. (Especially since I use Tobii mostly for head, not eye, tracking.)
 
You know the most difficult thing I have with Beam Tracker? My da*n movable flight chair! I am going to take the wheels off of it!

But seriously folks, this has really been an immersion factor for me. I have NEVER used any kind of head tracker or VR. I think I have it adjusted for my eyes now. But one has to learn to move in slow movements and hold their head steady. Kind of difficult to do after two glasses of fine wine and your movements have been compromised! :ROFLMAO:

Cazzie
 
In the past I had taken a trackHat but I could not get used to the strange sensations that it caused: a feeling of loss of balance, a bit like seasickness.
The test of OpenAI and AITrack was a simple and above all free opportunity to test if the solution was better and this was the case.

Why not try Beem Tracker: I’ll see if it brings a better feeling
 
What a revelation for me. Bought Beam Tracker and installed Open Track. Wow, like sitting in the cockpit and able to look around. For me, it has always been difficult to see runways. Now, I just raise up a bit and there it is. Cazzie, thanks for the recommendation. Well worth purchasing Beam Tracker. Also works perfectly in MSFS 2024.
 
Tried this out tonight so I would have an alternative to VR sometimes. While convenient for a quick flight, it makes me realize all the benefits of VR even more. It might be a nice alternative for DCS once I get all my hardware for that sim as I think I'll have a lot more buttons and switches to operate there plus it may save my neck as with VR, the head movement in DCS is one to one. It may be easier to check your six with this as you don't need to turn you head all the way around to look behind you. ;-) It certainly is a good alternative for eye/head tracking for the money and would definitely recommend it if you want to go this route.

LouP
 
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