Hello all, I am putting together my system for MSFS and about to reprogram my HoneyComb Yoke. I wanted some opinions on whether I should use the Hat switch for Views on Track IR. I am only using one signal monitor and two smaller touch-screen monitors, for Air Manager.
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Head tracking such as TrackIR or Tobii provide natural flow as you look over the panel or too the side, glance overhead etc, a hat switch cannot compare to that. Even so set an easily asccessable switch to freeze the view when needed.
Oh, you can also keep the hat switch for when you freeze head tracking, so nothing lost.
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Thank you. That was what I was thinking; I just wanted to make sure.
A head tracker is very much worth it over a HAT switch. I personally use TrackIR. Very helpful in the pattern and looking for traffic for example. I bought it for DCS at first but find myself using it in all games that support it.
Iâm going to buck the trend here and say for me hat switch, I have a Track IR5 and using it to look around I never feels like its right at what I want to look at and feels very Jumpy, I have tried many different speed and different settings and Ultimately i end up getting Motion sickness from it
Another vote for TrackIR here â I used to use the hat switch to pan/translate views but it always felt funky and mechanical.
I used to be suspicious that TrackIR would âfeel wrongâ because of the scaling of the rotation factors (since the monitor doesnât move with your face, like in VR, you canât have 90 degrees == 90 degrees) but when I finally tried it I adapted very quickly.
I recommend fiddling with the calibration settings to your comfort; the biggest improvement for myself was removing the dead zones around the center/forward view â this was causing a weird âstutteryâ feel as I looked around the cockpit back and forth, whereas itâs buttery smooth with it removed.
Note that when fiddling with the mouse to run stuff in the cockpit thatâs not on your physical controls, the head tracker can make it harder to precisely target things, because the mouse cursor essentially moves with your head in 3d space, making it very wobbly 
If you find this is a problem for complex avionics inputs, you can assign a hotkey binding to toggling head tracking on/off, and your hat switch config will still work if you need to adjust views during your avionics work.
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Before buying expensive hardware I suggest downloading Opentrack and try using an old cellphone or web cam to test the experience. I use the latter with Opentrack settings of
Input: Neuralnet tracker
Output: Freetrack (for cellphones use UDP?)
Load Opentrack and press start then visit camera settings in neuralnet, set it to a low resolution, zoom to at least half way and maybe adjust exposure for a better framerate. Do all this before starting the sim
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take a look at Beam Eye Tracker, works great with a regular webcam
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As mentioned, TrackIR or Tobii are great options. I personally use TrackIR, and as someone said, use the Hat switch to look around when you have tracking paused.
A lot of votes for TrackIR but the reason Iâve hesitated getting one is the need to wear a cap or headset for the reflector / light unit. So, I was surprised to see Tobii doesnât require the extra device. Itâs more expensive than TrackIR but would probably be worth it to me to not have to wear a device. So, I was wondering if any Tobii users could share their experience using it? Also, since going with a Tobii device, did you try or compare it to the less expensive options such as Beam Eye Tracker first or even afterwards? Thanks.
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I replaced a TrackIR with a Tobii Tracker 5, and wouldnât go back.
It can be a little disconcerting when you first jump into the sim, because your XYZ position in the cockpit depends entirely on how youâve calibrated it, and where your head is positioned.
Itâs pretty easy to adjust using the F12 hotkey. Lean in and press F12, and your virtual position moves backwards. Opposite if you lean back and press F12. Once youâre comfortable it works great. I just lean in to get a closeup of the instruments. Another good tings is that once you do an intial setup the controls are all embedded in the sim.
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Beam Eyetracker and Opentrack software with a web cam is much better and much cheaper
Donât you think thatâs a matter of opinion?
(Except for the cheaper part, of courseâŠ)
I personally canât say, since I havenât used Beam Eyetracker.
Have you used Tobii Tracker 5?
Based on my experience using all 3 zBeam eyetracker is best.
If you read the initial question the word Opinion is the request.
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Needs Steam for the demo which counts me out (I refuse to install it ever again). If you can show a video of Beamtracker in action I would be grateful
Once you try TrackIR you wonât go back and youâll wonder how you ever managed without it. I held off getting it way to long. Really it should be a very early purchase for any flight simmer along with a good HOTAS, because how you easily control the cockpit camera is so fundamental to your enjoyment and ease of FS.
Sounds like something isnât working correctly. Mine is super smooth and fluid. Its worth knowing you can download lots of flight sim specific profiles people have made. I faffed around for ages trying to get something together that I liked. Then I realised you can just download pre made profiles that work a treat.
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Can be said of all of the trackers, obviously some are better than others but I found once set up properly neuralnet is perfectly smooth ⊠and itâs free
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I moved from TrackIR which I had for years to Tobii. Tobii provides both head and eye tracking, but I found that too much so I run only the head tracking portion. It works flawlessly over a wide viewing angle and is more tolerant to lighting conditions, plus of course no headgear which is one reason I changed. I wear verifocal glasses which make no problem for the tracking system. I canât speak for the other options mentioned but Iâm very happy with the Tobii.
Currently uninstalling my PC and replacing with a brand new one.
However, this link to a YT video is the one I saw before I installed Eyetracker
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I understand.
When you said:
There was no comparative frame of reference.
So âbetterâ was just a random opinion. After your last post I see that you have an informed opinion. Thanks for the info.