Absolute Positioning idea.

[DannyO]

I'm just throwing this out there, and maybe I am missing something completely, but to provide absolute positioning with the Rift, couldn't you use something like the TrackIR? just have the reflectors on top of the Rift, and have the IR receiver mounted up on the wall or ceiling within the general area of where you are playing? you could possibly get rid of the cable and go wireless, although dunno how low the latency would be, I assume the transmitter and receiver inside some wireless gaming mice could work, then you could run the Rift receiver off of a battery.

[bobv5]

Yes, that would work well if you are sat down, although I would recommend freetrack over trackir because the makers of trackir have some nasty business tactics. EDIT: Freetrack is also less expensive.

If you are not facing the camera, it won't work, making it much less useful when standing.

[Delryn]

I also prefer the freedom the Rift gives you. It also sounds like the internal Rift sensors are much cheaper than TrackIR's retail price.

[geekmaster]

I'm just throwing this out there, and maybe I am missing something completely, but to provide absolute positioning with the Rift, couldn't you use something like the TrackIR? just have the reflectors on top of the Rift, and have the IR receiver mounted up on the wall or ceiling within the general area of where you are playing? you could possibly get rid of the cable and go wireless, although dunno how low the latency would be, I assume the transmitter and receiver inside some wireless gaming mice could work, then you could run the Rift receiver off of a battery.

There is already an existing active thread that details an advanced version of a similar idea (giving full coverage allowing absolute positioning with 360-degree rotation):
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=16072

It is designed to be integrated into a future Rift model, or available as an add-on accessory. Go check it out.

[DannyO]

I'm just throwing this out there, and maybe I am missing something completely, but to provide absolute positioning with the Rift, couldn't you use something like the TrackIR? just have the reflectors on top of the Rift, and have the IR receiver mounted up on the wall or ceiling within the general area of where you are playing? you could possibly get rid of the cable and go wireless, although dunno how low the latency would be, I assume the transmitter and receiver inside some wireless gaming mice could work, then you could run the Rift receiver off of a battery.

There is already an existing active thread that details an advanced version of a similar idea (giving full coverage allowing absolute positioning with 360-degree rotation):
http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=16072

It is designed to be integrated into a future Rift model, or available as an add-on accessory. Go check it out.

Thanks for posting that geekmaster, I really needed to start checking out other areas of this forum and that's a great section. That Posittron setup looks great, and looks like there are many other ideas in there I'm gonna have to read through, this forum is already starting to eat a lot of my time.

For what I was thinking, it wasn't so much to use TrackIR, but if a device was built that is similar but did combine a wireless transmitter and receiver into it, and with how accurate TrackIR is with only a few reflectors, shouldn't it be enough to only have maybe 5 reflectors on top of the Rift and with it track from above (looking down at the top of the Rift as if it was on your monitor looking at you normally), then that combined with the data it gets from the other sensors would be accurate enough to figure out where you are in space, and since the sensor is above you looking down, you can turn 360 degrees and be tracked the whole time.

So with what I was thinking, you could stand up and still be tracked, you wouldn't be able to move around more than maybe a meter or 2, but I doubt we are going to see people using the Rift and moving around their room, whether it is using the Rift at our computers or using it in a dedicated pod in the corner of the room, I doubt people will be moving more than a meter or so within a "Rift Circle".

[KBK]

One camera low, in front.

One camera high on wall, at ceiling juncture, or on ceiling, directly overhead.

two marks. one on top, one on the face of the HMD


Each mark is uniquely oriented or shaped, with regard to camera pickup quality, and window.

It is best that it be high contrast, or LED driven, in a range that is peaked in the given camera sensitivity ranges.

Latency does not mean much here, as reset is not an issue of continual 1:1 reference with the HMD's gyroscopic feedback system. It is just a reset, so not as often. Whatever ratio turns out to be more effective.

The trick is to simplify it as much as possible. One puts the gear on, and then the correct key/button is pressed for a reference 'in flight' self calibration, and then you are off to the races...

Similar to that of the Sony hand/wand unit but two cameras for XYZ, and an intermittent update, as felt is needed in the programming and use of said device.

That the most idiot proof simple system will probably require something like this, with two cameras as a baseline feature. Cameras are cheap these days. The lens for the best resolution and window, is another matter. zoom lenses for such hardware are pretty thin on the ground.

One might buy two of the Sony cameras and two of their different colored controllers...and have a go at it. (with a bit of programming)

This will always be more inherently accurate and simpler to implement and use than any single camera system. Reduce, reduce, reduce.