TrackIR 5 Head Tracking System – 6DOF USB Optical Motion Tracker for PC Gaming – Natural Head Movement Camera for Flight, Racing & Combat Simulators – Windows Compatible by NaturalPoint

Looking up TrackIR year back, and having used FreeCamNoIR for a while with just a webcam, it was exciting to try out an official TrackIR product. After getting it setup and using it for a while now, here's my takeaway! What You Get: In the package is the TrackIR Camera, a plastic bar made to fit on a baseball cap with the three reflective 'trackers' affixed to it, a small adjustable magnetic mount that you place the TrackIR Camera on and can then place on top of your TV or whatnot, and the usual promotional/instructions paper stuff. Programming: After downloading the drivers and software from TrackIR's website and getting everything plugged in, I gave the software a go. It's a handy tool that lets you preview movement in a 3D sphere and adjust some settings to your liking (turning range/sensitivity). There's profiles you can use or create for more settings, but I haven't done that yet. You might want to look into that first thing, as there's an 'auto-center snap' feature that means when you're looking close to dead-on wherever your center point is, the TrackIR feature won't turn your view until you move far enough outside of the deadzone. The size of the deadzone, for me at least, is small enough that I am at least aware of where my 'center' is at all times, but big enough where it's always a distraction to have my in-game-view suddenly snap whe I don't want it to--or where I have to turn my head further than I normally would, just to 'escape' the deadzone. Take this paragraph for what it's worth in my opinion: software good, but be prepared to look into changing deadzones if that's going to be a distraction for you. However, the head tracking itself is pretty darn good. There's no, or at least, very little latency--your head movement will move your view in real-time, and being able to look around in ARMA or Elite Dangerous is a pretty sweet experience! It is well implemented and functional, and that's definitely a good thing! When it comes to what games are supported, it depends. Obviously, simuation games like ARMA, Flight Simulator X, XPlane, Elite Dangerous etcetera, are going to have built-in support. Getting TrackIR working in those games was as simple as checking a box labeled "Enable TrackIR", and in Elite Dangerous' case TrackIR was working as soon as I started the game. And in ARMA 3, at least, TrackIR movement was interpreted as joystic movement--if that holds true for other games, you could probably use TrackIR inputs for other games as well--but that's just me speculating. All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with this. Fun stuff!

This is a pretty neat gaming device once you get used to using it and spend time tuning it for your games. Boxing and hooking it up is easy. The USB cable is long enough that it can run from the sensor atop my monitor to the tower on my floor when I have my standing desk all the way up. The hat clip is fine too. I keep an old hat on my desk. First use is just getting used to using the software and seeing the results on screen. I watched some Youtube videos to understand the configuration options. I play mostly racing games, so I fired up Grid Autosport and went for a drive. The first thing to notice is that the default setting may be way too sensitive. A slight movement of your head translates into really big movements in game. I looked down to the wheel and I'm no longer looking out the window. I look slightly left on the monitor and I'm looking over my shoulder in the game. I messed with the settings and tuned them way down which made it far better in a racing game. The more radical movements are better when having a 360 degree view is useful such as in X-Plane or Microsoft Flight Simulator. You can set it up so that the in-game movement is amplified the more you turn your head in real life. You should be able to turn your had 1/8th of a turn IRL and look behind you in the game. It's all about tuning the curves so that it's not twitchy with little movements but helps with bigger ones. Once you get it, it's fun being able to look around easily. I can't wait to try it in a flight combat sim. Using it takes some retraining and I got the hang of it after maybe 10 hours in. While driving in real life, I naturally look to where I want to go. The view usually isn't far enough out that I can't see from my peripheral vision. In the game, I wanted to same effect so that I can see the corners and other cars while driving. Without the sense of motion, keeping the car in the right motion while turning the view is tricky at first. I continually turned the wheel less because I the view was turned more. I had to learn to pay attention to the visual clues of the direction of travel in the view compared to where I wanted to go. If the scenery was sliding by, I was either turning or looking sideways and I'd want to align the motion front to back. If the scenery was passing straight back, I was going and looking straight. 3 things to be aware of: I find I have to calibrate it often. This isn't a big deal in game but I have to remember to pick my moments such as not during a tricky corner, when passing, or other cases where I am occupied. When racing, I find I need to calibrate once a lap. The view becomes "off" and I seem to be looking askew. I mapped a button on my wheel to recalibrate so when I get a chance, I center my head and calibrate which takes affect either immediately or within a second. You can't have a bright window or light source behind you. It's winter here and the snow is on the ground. The reflections makes if very bright on my office and if I don't darken the office, the sensor is useless. I supposed the Pro attachment might help but I'm not that bothered by it. Not all games are supported and that's a drag. I did review the list of games on Natural Point's site and most of my games are supported, but not all. Don't be surprised check the list before you buy.

Hugely Overpriced for what amounts to probably $25 worth of hardware, but I can say it does work well. Software install was easy. Plug-n-Play was easy. Worked automatically in IL-2 which was great. Calibrating it was confusing and lacked good documentation, but you-tube helped and it had good calibration and sensitivity options. Needs a clear straight LEVEL line of sight to your baseball cap where you mount their 'reflector', so don't even try to place the IR device on the bottom of your monitor; Only working place was top of monitor which was difficult for me, as I had stacked vertical monitors.. USB cable was 2 feet too short. Oh, did I say it was hugely overpriced.

A friend of mine bought one of these and I got to try it out first before I bought mine. I was sold on it immediately. For my purposes, I currently use it for Microsoft Flight Simulator and Warthunder. It's ridiculously easy to set up, just plug it in, download the software, then grab a hat to attach the hat clip and you're good to go. It works seamlessly with the games, all you have to do is open the TrackIR software first before you open the game. I didn't have to change any settings or anything, literally plug and play interface. What I like about this is that you have awareness of your surroundings vs being blind to everything around you in VR. It's a lot more convenient, a lot less intrusive in PC resources, not to mention a fifth of the cost. Wherever you move your head, it follows, and it's VERY accurate and smooth. For those of you that like to fly tail-draggers like I do, this allows you to open the canopy and stick your head out to see past the nose of the aircraft when taxiing. Not to mention be able to look around and find all your switches for startup procedures. 10/10 would definitely recommend.

Back in the late 90's and early 00's I flew flight sims heavily. At the time I spent a lot of time and money on HOTAS flight control systems, graphics cards, and other PC hardware. I took several years off, but early this year decided to get back into flight sims. A look at the currently available HOTAS systems shows they haven't changed much at all. Even the Sim of choice amongst many is based on the 1998 Falcon 4.0, so that hadn't changed. What had changed was the introduction of TrackIR. And what a change it is! This small device completely changes the game. This device, when used in a full 6-degrees-of-freedom (6DOF) 3D cockpit, makes it a snap to just look around the cockpit and find what you need. Instead of having to use a hat switch on the hotas to pan my view around (which is tricky, especially when maneuvering in a dogfight) I can simply turn my head and have my view pan with it. These movements are natural, so I intuitively know where I'm looking (when not directly at the front of the cockpit). A friend had told me it would change everything for me, and that after I used it I wouldn't be able to imagine flying without one. That obviously set high expectations for me, and I'm happy to report that those expectations were met... and then some. Simply put, this is the greatest piece of hardware - and single greatest advancement - for flight sims (and any sims, for that matter) that I've ever seen. My experience has been that I had to make very few changes to the defaults. That said - you can spend as much time as you want dialing it in to be exactly where you want it. It's got lots of customizable options - none of which I've needed to use. Your experience may vary. A note on it's use: Avoid direct sunlight, and surfaces behind you that reflect IR light. These will interfere with it's operation if you're not using the pro clip. By default, the TrackIR will beam IR at you which are reflected off a metal clip that attaches to the bill of a baseball cap. Three reflectors on the hat clip allow the TrackIR to detect movement which it translates into input for the game. The Pro clip has active IR emitters, and clips onto a headset. This means you don't have to wear a hat, and you don't have to worry about IR reflective surfaces behind you. I've been told it's a better experience, but can't comment as I don't have one.

The TrackIR 5 system gives the user a refined, packaged product. It works as advertised and will not disappoint you. You may regret the purchase only because of its current expense, but you will be getting the best for any driving or flight simulator. Its primary technical advantage is the high framerate and precision of the black-and-white infrared camera, 120 FPS, with limited computer resources consumed. That is why a webcam and some free tracking software are an inferior solution for precise head-tracking; until webcam technology and prices improve, low-end webcams cannot give the same performance. TrackIR can detect changes in the orientation of the tracking clip of hundredths of degrees, and millimeters of spatial movement: less than what a human brain would readily perceive. You may alter the subsequent math and functions of the raw input for use in your program. If you take half an hour to customize and fine-tune the default settings included with TrackIR, you adapt the technology to you, not you to the technology. It's not as though you need to track your head, either. Put it on your foot, or put it on your swivel chair, or put it on your cat if you trust her to help you play. You can pause tracking at any time with a simple hotkey. It is partially because of its actual precision that NaturalPoint has intentionally limited its usefulness outside of the pre-defined supported games and generic "Mouse Emulation" executable which attempts to give basic mouse emulation for programs not officially supported but which will not allow usage of the mouse in non-games. The TrackIR hardware and software are, however, technically capable of full emulation for a desktop mouse or a joystick, but the methods of implementing this present something of a moral dilemma: adapting the TrackIR system into a general-use mouse means that NaturalPoint's much more expensive head-tracking package for the disability market is much less attractive and exclusive (e.g. for someone unable to use an ordinary optical mouse), but so severely limiting the system's function means that casual buyers are restricted from using their purchase to its full potential. So, if someone were to use TrackIR and some programmable input emulation software for the purpose of adapting TrackIR into a device usable in any situation with its full, ultra-precise "6 degrees of freedom", then I suppose that's "hacking" in the hobbyist sense of the word, but it would be an affront to the engineers and investors who put so much work and money into developing TrackIR into the wonderful gaming controller that it is. Yet, TrackIR is capable of so much more if only the tools to do these things were available as part of the proprietary package. TrackIR is to head-tracking as Microsoft Windows is to operating systems: you get a good, polished product that tends to work, but nerds complain on the internet about how closed it is. It's like buying a car and discovering that its maximum speed is governed to never exceed the speed limit, and then one day you open up the hood and see the governor laxly tied on with a "do not remove" sign. You paid for it. What you do is up to you.

I fly Microsoft Flight Sim X as a way to keep my head in flying while I cannot afford to exersize my real life certificate. I've been wanting one of these for a while and during the wait, Natural Point put out the new version 5. I finally bought it and, all I can say is "WOW!" Okay, that's not all I can say. When the package arrived, quickly I might add, from GoGamer, I was surprised at the size of the box. It was well over-packed and protected from the rigors of shipping. The actual unit is quite small. Unpacking from the bubble package is easier than the normal bubble packaging, too. I was going to wait for Christmas, put it under the tree, etc. but the kids will just have to understand! Setup is a snap. Installed the software from the website first, then plugged it all up. It just works. I picked one of the default profiles and went flying. It was wonderful to look around the airplane, although I habitually use the hat switch which is now largely useless. I haven't even explored all the settings, profiles, or adjusted anything but the flying is 100% better. I turned my head to look where the runway is! Simple thing, but so, so important for realism. Imagine leaning in forward to see and set the radio, or turn the OBS knob to a precise setting, or craning your neck up to see over the dash better. I'm hoping today to explore the settings some more. I picked a profile that moves actually too well. I need to expand the "dead zone" just a bit so my head movements don't make flying into what my wife calls a puke ride. It isn't of course. The only difficulty I've had so far is trying to assign buttons for "Center" and "Pause" to my Saitek yoke. I haven't figured out how to make it work. But this is due to my not having explored the software yet. The buttons assign in the Track IR software, but when I start the sim, they aren't functioning. I need to RTM. Bottom line: This Track IR should win the Nobel Peace Prize. It is an OUTSTANDING product. Even at the default settings I'm still using, it is a HUGE improvement over using the hatswitch for panning, the + and - buttons for zooming, the shift+enter to raise my head, etc. It's only going to get better for me as I improve my personal profile settings. If you are not sold on it yet, read flight sim forums for reviews. There are YouTube videos you can watch it in action. No one ever says they don't like it. If you're reading this review, you want it anyway. Buy it. You will NOT regret your purchase.

I purchased the TrackIR 5 for use with my racing simulation rig to be used in iRacing, Project Cars, and Assetto Corsa. It worked great in the beginning with all three titles after slowing its action and limiting its range of motion. Updates to PC and AC over the last few months (Q1 2017) have rendered it useless or erratic, while it still works like a champ in iRacing. I'm giving it 4 stars because of two reasons: 1. The looking up & down motions do not allow much range before the system become erratic - due to the IR tracker losing sight of one or more of the reflective points on the standard hat-mounted apparatus. I do not have the add-on headset mounted tracker, so I can't speak to its use. 2. There seems to be/have been no innovation, development or upgrades from Natural Point on this product - it's basically been all but static for several YEARS with little in the way of improvement. And with the PC and AC updates seemingly removing it (at least for now) from their equation, I can't justify giving it a 5 star rating. Having said all that, when it does work and has been adjusted for the Sim or game (limiting range and slowing action), it is excellent for driving simulators. I know having a moving point of reference is not for everyone but being a professional driver by trade, my natural tendency is to look through the corners and this makes that practice feel more natural when driving the Sim rig. It adds a little to the realism for me, which makes it worth the price. Even if the price is a little high for a product that seems to have become 'stabilized' by its mfg. I also purchased some 3M Scothlite reflective tape to mount on a racing helmet to achieve the same results and the supplied ball cap visor mount but have found getting the distances between the tape points correct (matching that of the ball cap visor mount's) increasingly challenging. I know I'm stepping outside of the product's stated range of use, and so I can't deduct anything for that. Overall, I recommend this product. It's expensive for what it is but it cut over 1 second off my lap time at a familiar track(s) because I can now look towards upcoming turn apex and exit points, allowing me to be smoother in my Sim driving.

El track ir perfecto. No trae el track clip pro, sino el cacharrito metálico para montar en una gorra o los cascos (lo digo por si alguien no lo tiene claro). El funcionamiento, perfecto. Es el segundo que tengo, ya que antes tenía el track ir 4, que vendí hace algún tiempo. En cuanto a la entrega por parte de DHL, la hicieron dentro del plazo previsto, pero podría haber llegado mucho antes, ya que cometieron varios errores de clasificación del envío. Recogieron el paquete en Alemania el 29 de diciembre, y tenía que venir a España por transporte terrestre. El recorrido que hizo fue: Alemania, Lyon (Francia), Bruselas (Bélgica) (?!), Oslo (Noruega) (???!!!), de nuevo Bruselas, Barcelona, Coruña, y finalmente mi casa el 9 de enero. No ha llegado a tiempo para reyes (debido al viaje turístico que se hizo el paquete por el norte de Europa), pero al menos ya lo tengo...

Fonctionnel et simple à configurer. Seul inconvénient port obligatoire de la casquette avec les reflecteurs

I tried FacetrackNoIR for a few hours, thought it was really cool and gave me a taste of what headtracking would be like. But it was jittery and just not anywhere close to the level of precision I wanted. Ordered TrackIR5 a few days later after debating whether it would be worth the price and I'm happy to say I have absoloutly no regrets. I'm just using the basic trackclip that came with the product on a hat. Curves were solid out of the box and only needed like 10 seconds of tweeking on the Y-axis for me to work as I wanted. You're paying for the solid plug-and-play software just as much as you are the hardware itself. I've been using it with FSX;SE and the Chaseplane camera addon. Practicing GA patternwork has become a million times better now and just tracking your turn out on to final with your head feels amazing. In additon, I can look down to quickly access buttons and switches that before required me to hit buttons on my keyboard to swap to pre-set camera angles. If anything I just wish the mount was better suited for my laptop's thin screen. It works fine but is a tiny bit loose as it was designed for thicker bulkier monitors. It's sits okay but only at its most extreme position. Luckily the mount is magnetized and independent of the actual IR sensor / blaster meaning I can likely 3D print a new mount for my laptop or something. Otherwise tracks great, easy setup. Solid precision and absoloutly 0 un-wanted jitter or head movement out of the box. I suggest you try FacetrackNoIR to get a sense of what head tracking is and then purchase TrackIR after. It'll totally change the way you sim. Here are hopes we get TIR5 support for Flight Simulator 2020. For me its a far better solution than VR as I still get to run the sim at 1080p without it looking blurry like in VR (for me that also means less motion sickness). And overall significantly less money. I'd 100% recommend this product if you take sims even remotely seriously.

Der TrackIR 5 (in der passiven Ausstattung ohne aktive LEDs) ist bei mir seit ca. 6 Monaten im Einsatz für FSX und vor allem X-Plane (Flugsimulation). Die Treibersoftware ist einfach zu bedienen, läuft stabil (hier: Win7 64 bit) und es ist möglich, die Einstellungen durch einfachen Wechsel (Alt-Tab) oder mit frei definierbaren Hotkeys interaktiv anzupassen, ohne die Programme jedes mal neu starten zu müssen. Die Integration in die Programme ist gut, das Tracking auch bei normaler Raumbeleuchtung präzise und es wird trotz Echtzeitverarbeitung keine nennenswerte CPU-Leistung vom Rechner abgefordert (in diesem Fall ein Core i7 3770). Ich habe mich früher beruflich u. a. mit sehr hochwertigen Trackingsystemen beschäftigt und bin beeindruckt, was hier ganz leicht aussieht und verlässlich funktioniert. Handling: bisher musste der Blickwinkel immer von Hand eingestellt werden, mit dem TrackIR geht das alles nach kurzer Zeit intuitiv und man akzeptiert ihn wie selbstverständlich. Kleiner Nachteil: nach dem ersten Einsatz war mir erstmal etwas übel, die Diskrepanz zwischen leichter Kopfbewegung, großem Drehwinkel im Bild verbunden mit einem schwankenden Helikopter brachte mein visuelles System gründlich durcheinander. :-) Ich würde deshalb langsam anfangen und mit nur einigen Minuten Betrieb beginnen. Nach kurzer Eingewöhnung war aber alles problemlos und ich möchte nicht mehr darauf verzichten. Die Verarbeitung ist eher leichtgewichtig und sauber, EUR 140 empfinde ich durchaus als angemessen. Wer sich für "echtes" VFR-Feeling interessiert, bekommt die Möglichkeit, sich einmal von den Instrumenten zu lösen und virtuell nach draußen zu schauen. Klare Kaufempfehlung,

Excellent product. Bought it for using with Elite:Dangerous and it has transformed the game. Coupled with a hotas controller setup, this is the only way to get the best from Elite in my mind. I've heard people saying the Track Clip Pro is flimsy and doesn't work very well compared to the Track Clip used on a cap. I've tried both and can safely say that the Pro is superb and I have had no issues with it, nor does it feel like I could break it easily unless I grabbed at it aggressively. The only downside is that the Pro needs to fit to your headset, so there isn't the option to not used headphones when gaming. To be honest, I always wear a headset so it's no big issue for me. Can take a bit of getting used to, but after a week or so it becomes second nature. The added bonus is that it supports so many other games I have too. I also use Flight Sim and have done for years, but haven't yet tried TIR with it yet, so can't comment - but I have only ever heard good things about it. I just can't stop playing Elite, so haven't had the time! I expect using it with FSX addons like the PMDG NGX must be great though and hope to try it out soon. A few tips: Make sure you have enough room above your monitor for the camera to sit on. I had to remove a shelf that sat above my monitor to make room for it. Give yourself about 10cm and you should be fine. If using it for Elite, download a good Elite profile to use with it. Search the net and you will find them. Also try combining this with Voice Attack (http://www.voiceattack.com) and ED Voice Pack (http://www.elitedangerousvoicepack.com) and you will have the ultimate setup for Elite. Controlling your ship with voice commands is superb!