HMD Gaming Controls Question

[mrfahrenheit94]

Hello,
I've just recently been introduced into the world of 3d, virtual reality, and augmented reality, and I must say, I absolutely freaking love it!

Now to the question:

Traditionally in pc games, namely First Person Shooters, the location of the crosshairs (where the weapon is pointed) and the location of where you are looking are always synonymous. In other words, wherever your character is looking is where the gun is aimed.

Is it possible to somehow have separate control over the character's head's orientation and the gun orientation? The main use of this is that if I were to have a HMD with motion tracking, I would ideally like the ability to look around to be INDEPENDENT of the ability to aim. So, I would basically have a wiimote to aim the crosshair of the gun around, independent of which direction my head is facing.

Obviously, this is sort of a vague question, being that there were no specific games mentioned, (say for such a game as Left 4 Dead or the original Halo) but being able to somehow have control over say possibly an in-game camera that follows the HMD and the crosshair follow the wiimote would be absolutely fantastic and add a whole new layer(after the 3d, of course) of immersion to the gaming experience.

So is this pretty much an impossible request? I mean, are those capabilities a core function in the game itself and would therefore be impractical or impossible to edit some file to add functionality? Obviously I don't expect it to be that easy....but I'm up for a challenge.

Thank you so much for your help, this site has become a wonderful resource, and I aim to use it to my fullest to gain knowledge about this awesome technology.

Thanks again,

[Synexious]

HMDs can have headtrackers, and there is also a device called the TrackIR, as well as a free alternative called FreeTrack. They allow the gun and head to move independently, but few FPS games support the feature. Pop FPS games like Call of Duty don't. Usually only milsims like Arma II support it.

[cybereality]

The only game I have tried like this was UT2004 with the VR920. Vuzix made a mod for the game that allowed advanced headtracking, including independent looking and aiming. It was one of the more immersive experiences I have tried, especially with the stereo 3D. Unfortunately there are not a lot of games that have this feature. I imagine some games could be modded (like UT2004 was) but its probably pretty hard for a lot of games. There is also the option of creating a driver that could hook into DirectX (similar to how the 3D drivers work) and change the camera angles dynamically. I have actually thought about trying to create a driver like this myself, specifically to allow stuff just like this (real headtracker support, not mouse emulation). However I am a pretty busy guy, and this seems a little over my head honestly. But it would be pretty cool if it were possible. Maybe in the future someone will do it.

[mrfahrenheit94]

Wow. Thank you for the info....I'll definitely check that out.

[Johnny-Mnemonic]

Some games have open source codes, like Quake, Quake3.
With such games you can do very advanced modding.

Check this video of Quake3 adopted to render in CAVE, with separate 6DOF gun and head tracking:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gnq-8iaOcXk[/youtube]

[Okta]

Johnny that is an awesome video.
Unfortunately the cave is not 360 and the movement would feel awkward because the urge to physically walk and rotate would be huge. Plus no 6dfov head tracking that setup would feel very unintuitive.

[Johnny-Mnemonic]

Unfortunately the cave is not 360 and the movement would feel awkward because the urge to physically walk and rotate would be huge. Plus no 6dfov head tracking that setup would feel very unintuitive.

Anyway, idea is clearly seen in this video