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Tobii vs. TrackIR

Killbilly

Killbilly

SOH-CM-2025
I've been using TrackIR for many years now, and it's worked great. Is it worth it to jump to Tobii? The eye trackers are on sale right now, and it would be nice to fly without a hat on, but I don't know how the performance and flexibility are with Tobii. For those of you who've used both, is there enough of an improvement to justify the cost and the setup?
 
I haven’t connected my TrackIR 5 since the day I got my Tobiii. The tracking quality is exemplary, it’s nice not to have to wear a hat or clip the IR thing to headphones. Works really well, and I use VR less because the Tobii is just there working with zero setup when I want to do a quick flight.

I turn the actual eye tracking WAY down and mostly use head tracking. The eye tracking lets you just go a bit more towards the edges that way.

I had a Track IR, Track IR 3, and a 5. They were quirky but a nice immersion improvement. Tobii is the improved experience without the quirky part.
 
Hmmm, this again. TrackIR's specs are consistently higher than Tobii's. Its camera has a wider field of view, higher tracking frequency, lower latency, and more precise tracking with less jitter. The Tobii's software suite (‘Tobii Experience’) is poorly featured in comparison to TrackIR, notably in the customisation of response curves for each axis. Detailed reviews of the Tobii Eye Tracker consistently report a subjective experience of sluggish and imprecise head tracking when compared to TrackIR, and that eye (gaze) tracking adds little or nothing to current flight sims, none of which offers any gaze-tracking specific API. Some reviewers report headaches from gaze tracking and most simply turn it off. Another common gripe seems to be Tobii's non-negotiable reset-to-centre when tracking is interrupted.

You will see lots of superficial reviews, some of which argue that TrackIR is 'old' so should not be a contender. Of course you can reframe 'old' as mature, refined, proven, (etc.), and Tobii and TrackIR use the same technology: both track your face by emitting pulsed infra-red (IR) and detecting an image of an illuminated target. In the Tobii’s case the target is your face, while in TrackIR it is a passive reflector array (or an optional active LED array). The result? A sub-standard TrackIR substitute, costing twice as much and with the sole advantage that it doesn't require you to wear a baseball cap. You can watch a good comparative review (not by me) here: https://youtu.be/-tQqXdqek1A?si=_NKqaZfBCV63nbnD

To be fair, I have not personally tried the eye Track5. I did have the original Tobii eyeX and it was very poor.

You did ask :)
 
I went from TrackIR to Tobii and never looked back ( pun...sorry). I only have a very small percentage of eye tracking, while the rest is head tracking, and I find that perfect for glancing at instruments on short finals. Tobii might not be as adjustable as TrackIR, but it meets my requirements perfectly, so how much more fine-tuning do I need ? It also works beautifully in ARMA 3. Plus, there's the BIG advantage of not having to wear any head tracking device - you just start up MSFS and you're all set.

I've kept my TrackIR hardware, but it's in a box at the back of a cupboard and will probably never see the light of day again.
 
I have been wanting a head tracking device for a long time now and have been reading and watching a lot of reviews on both Tobii 5 and TrackIR 5. I'm sure both are good, but I am going with Tobii because I do to not have to wear a hat, it's easier set up, and it all together looks like a better piece of hardware.
 
Thanks, all, for the reviews and good information. I'll probably go ahead and make the switch, but first of all, I have to figure out how to mount the thing. I have a curved monitor with buttons on the bottom in the center, so I guess I'll have to get a different mount set up as well.
 
I have an MSi WinX laptop with Tobii, would love to get it working, so if anyone of you would be willing to help me getting it working, that would make me very happy.

hertzie
 
There is also Beam Eye Tracker.

It allows you to utilise a webcam to track your eye & head movements (which is great if you already have a webcam) Not tried it as of yet.

Apparently they've released a Beta build that removes the requirement of Opentrack & connects to MSFS2024 directly.

Also supposed to work with the IL-2: Great Battles series which Tobii doesn't (I'm hoping to try that out soon).

Keith.
 
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