Hardware Virtual Reality?

[Catch 22]

Is Orbiter compatible with Virtual Reality goggles?, and if so which
brand? I was looking for full immersion with goggles that could be used
with other programs like Stellarium.

Any suggestions?

It is not really depth perception I am looking for. Instead I would like to
have gogles, or something, displaying what I would see looking in that
particular direction. It is a bit hard to appreciate space flight in full
(though very beautiful) if one is confined to pushing and pulling the
screen of a static computer display. What about if looking south we had to
turn our heads 180 degrees to see north? As I said, a system
that gave the computer display connected to head tracking and showing
directly ahead in the direction I am looking into.

That's what I call virtual reality. And I would like to have it in the
Orbiter 2006.

Thx. :thumbup:

 

[Hielor]

Look into getting a TrackIR. It's cheaper than real VR goggles, fully supported by Orbiter (with an addon), and uses your existing monitor.

 

[Catch 22]

Thanks. I guess TrackIR used in combination with VR goggles would give the desired effect. For my budget, TrackIR, is still a bit expensive.

Thx. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[thomasantony]

There are some VR glasses that give a simulated 55-inch display. Cost somewhere near $200 .

http://www.i-glassesstore.com/

You may also find some on ebay.

 

[Hielor]

Thanks. I guess TrackIR used in combination with VR goggles would give the desired effect. For my budget, TrackIR, is still a bit expensive.

Thx. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

I mean, don't bother with VR goggles at all at this point. The technology is not well refined for consumer-level products. TrackIR alone is enough to make things very immersive, with the added bonus that you can still see your hands in order to do things like pushing keys

There are some VR glasses that give a simulated 55-inch display. Cost somewhere near $200 .

http://www.i-glassesstore.com/

You may also find some on ebay.

Those are not designed so much for computer usage as movie watching. You'd need an adaptor to get your computer output to composite A/V.

Moreover, the "50-inch display" is a trick of marketing. Sure, it simulates a 50-inch display, but at a distance of 6.5 feet from your face, which is really not much more (indeed, worse) than a 22" display at a distance of 2.5 feet from your face. Moreover, would you want a 50-inch display that had a less than 640x480 resolution? Pixels the size of bricks...

 

[n122vu]

If you're interested in TrackIR, but it is out of your budget at the moment, there is a free alternative called FreeTrack.

I've never tried it, but some say it is as good as TrackIR. I would advise asking someone who has tried both though to see if that is really true.

EDIT: FreeTrack in action with Orbiter:

 

[ronnix]

FreeTrack better use with Wiimote. it's gives 100 fps and lower CPU (around 5-6%)

 

[n122vu]

FreeTrack better use with Wiimote. it's gives 100 fps and lower CPU (around 5-6%)

Nice tip. Thanks for the "head's up!"

 

[Hielor]

Odd, I never noticed any performance hit at all using TrackIR...

 

[TSPenguin]

Odd, I never noticed any performance hit at all using TrackIR...

The lower CPU usage is compared to using freetrack with a cheap webcam that does no processing in hardware.
Nowadays the performance hit by that is rather marginal though.

 

[Catch 22]

Thanks all for the tips. This is really, really great.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

 

[markl316]

Whoooooa...this looks really cool!!!
Unfortunately, I've never seen anything like it, do you move your head or something? If somebody could post quick step by step directions from downloading it from the website posted a few posts above to using it in orbiter, that would be superb. Something tells me I'm not the only person that hasn't seen this...at least, I hope not :lol:

 

[TSPenguin]

You download the software, set it up and calibrate it according to the included documentation. Then enable the TrackIR module in Orbiter and you are done.

 

[Hielor]

I think the important point here is that you also need hardware attached to your computer for this to work, mark's comment suggests that he may not have realized that

 

[JamesG]

Pixels the size of bricks...

Says someone who has obviously never use one.

I have a Visuxs VR920. Its thier previous generation HMD. They currently have a new headset out that is more refined.

Its not perfect, but its display and head tracking work very well. The resolution is about 8 x 6 and the color isn't exact, it is more than good enough for the graphics of Orbiter.

I personally don't use mine for Orbiter because most of the time you spend noodling around with MFDs, hot keying, and time compressing the coasting thru space. What rubber-necking there is to do is usually just looking out a window.

Where HMDs earn their keep is in 1st person action type games (shooters and air combat). I got mine as an experiment in building an emmersive window's setup using the HMD as monitor with a wraparound desktop.

It takes some tinkering with to configure and get running right. For Orbiter, unless you want to experiment with VR, the semi-virtual TrackIR "wiggling monitor" is probably good enough. It will enhance the experiance in virtual cockpit mode.

 

[Hielor]

The other problem for me is that I wear glasses (hah! four-eyes! well, six, actually, since i have bifocals...), and these devices aren't particularly glasses-friendly....