Settings & Setup guide for the Tobii Eye Tracker 5

By default F12 set’s the Tobii camera position in MSFS – if you’ve changed this it might not help.

If I move out of the MSFS window, Tobii removes itself from the controls screen and stops working in the sim. The only way to “fix” it is to restart the sim, but since I use charts and checklists and etc on my flights, that isn’t really something that can be done every time. I have followed the instructions in the thread to the letter, multiple times, but nothing solves it. I tried it just now with the latest software updates, but nothing solves the issue. I don’t know if it’s related, but if I open the Tobii Experience app, it shows briefly a black screen with the loading icon, then it minimizes to the taskbar area. I can only access it one time if I quit the app and restart it. I have a ticket in with Tobii and Asobo, but I don’t expect it to be resolved. I was using FaceTrackNoIR but I uninstalled it, thinking maybe Tobii would have an update and it would work, but no. It’s a shame, I really like having the feature built-in and I really like the extra eye tracking that FaceTrackNoIR doesn’t do, but I don’t know what else to do. It’s frustrating.

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If you used FaceTrackNoIR, it can leave traces of plugins etc. that can cause issues. Perhaps a registry clean may help. Also check for any other associated programs like OpenTrack or similar.

I find it hard to believe that something like that would cause the problems I’m having. Conflicts, sure, but working fine until going to another window and back, I’m not entirely sure. Even so, I did use Revo to uninstall FaceTrackNoIR and OpenTrack and clean out registry files. Still no dice.

The Tobii 5 has arrived!
Will be looking through this topic tonight for hints, tips and important settings.
Can’t wait.

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Any Tobii 5 people in Sim Update 10 beta?

If you are, can you try something for me?

  1. Put your sim in Windowed mode (vs Fullscreen)
  2. Once in windowed mode, minimize the main MSFS window (i.e. minimize the window and go to your desktop)
  3. Maximize the MSFS window again – does your Tobii 5 stop working?

I’ve been able to repro this 100% of the time, yet only have 2 other votes on it, so was just curious if others could try this.

Once I maximize my MSFS window, Tobii stops registering and it’s no longer showing in the controller options of MSFS – I have to fully restart the sim to get Tobii working again.

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Hi, just saw this! I am having the exact same issue, but in SU10 Beta. Anytime I minimize the MSFS window (in windowed mode), and then go back to MSFS, Tobii is completely gone and a full restart of the sim is the only way to get it back.

I just got mine, and have had a quick 30 minute flight with it. The ability to look about is really handy, but I can say it’s not done my flying a lot of good. :joy:

I think I may have to disable the eye tracking because it’s really distracting. Every little glance I make, say at instruments on final causes the view to change then as I glance back up it makes me make unnecessary corrections.

Zooming in to make changes to a GPS is especially tricky. Let’s say I move my head forward to set OBS. I look at the OBS button, then move my mouse to click it, I then look to the knob to the right, and move my mouse over that. I now glance up to look at the angle of the display to see what I am setting it to, and that movement causes the mouse to move off of the knob, stopping me from adjusting it. Any interaction that needed twiddling one thing, while looking at another was prone for this.

Probably switching to the other interaction mode would also work, but I never got on with that, and prefer Legacy.

Setup was extremely easy, much more than I thought it would be. I suspect as your frame rate drops the head tracking will become more jarring, though for my test flight I specifically choose somewhere out in the American countryside where there was no PG, and at a smaller airport to see what best case was like.

I didn’t get any eye strain, or headaches from the IR illuminators, something which I had read about. I wonder if that really stems from having to crank your head about while trying to keep your eyes on the screen. I can see that causing muscle fatigue.

Overall I’m really impressed. I’ve not used a tracker since TrackIR 4, so I’ll need to get used to it all over again.

You will need to find the best Tobii config. settings that work for you.

I posted my settings earlier if you want to try them, but you can certainly tweak further.

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Thanks. I think disabling eye tracking entirely will be my first change tonight, as I have the headtracking working at an acceptable speed.

Eyetracking makes it almost impossible to focus on instruments - Tobii is very sensitive and picks up the tiniest movements. I switch the level to prefer head tracking instead.

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Yes, I left it at the default of 85, and will have a go at 100 tonight. I did get a kick out of leaning in to my monitor, and craning my head left to look back at the threshold of the runway I was about to land at. I found a combination of the hatswitch for a much more course shift of view coupled with headtracking worked really well. So I would hatswitch shift to either left, or back left, and then tilt my head to the right. It’s at least as smooth as I remember my TrackIR 4, and without any headgear needed.

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Yup, I switched mine to 100% head tracking for this very reason even though I do like the idea of eye tracking. I just find both unnecessary and stick to head tracking - mostly because I like to glance off screen at tablets with additional instruments and eye tracking would mean the camera jumping back and forth. With only head tracking, I can still glance at these tablets without moving the on screen view back and forth.

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Agreed with all of the above, very low or indeed off for the eye tracking and high in the head tracking.
I also set a reasonable deadzone, and toned down the sensitivity of the yaw and position settings.
Still tweaking as lowering those last two lost me a little in turning and looking up at the overhead panel, but helped me a lot in reducing twitchiness.

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Had an hour long flight tonight with eye tracking disabled, and it was like night, and day. It actually felt right in that configuration, like I had regained control of where I was looking. I can see this becoming invaluable on the base to final turn.

I found myself constantly fighting the urge to keep hitting the reset view button. I noticed that it’s quite often off a little bit when you return your head to the home position, but I also noticed the slow return to home as well, so over the flight I learned to trust it will right itself automatically.

What a great addon for the sim. :+1:

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This one is taking me a while to train myself on :joy:

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Head tracking is highly useful when on medium or short final and in a turn - to keep track of the runway.

I love leaning in a bit over the console to get a better view!

I am as desesperate as you, I just received my tobii 5.

Totally unable to get it work in MSFS …

I have tried to deinstall the drivers and tobii time multiples time with revo as asked, I have reinstalled my MSFS … i’m totally unable to enable the tracking.

The tobii seems to be working perfectly fine out of MSFS …

Me after using the Tobii for nearly a week.

Screenshot 2022-07-16 at 20.51.35

Never skip neck day.

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This Guide is great, but still having problems. I start with being positioned behind the pilots seat. I have been told to set up the F12 to Reset Head Tracking. I don’t have that option. I only have Pause Head Tracking. Any ideas what to do now. Thanks