FaceTrackNoIR is a head tracker compatible with the TrackIR protocol. There was a thread about it here a while ago.

I finally got myself a web cam (Logitech C500 from the compatibility list) and spent ~2h setting it up for RoF. I've been using TrackIR 4 with RoF previously, so I can compare the two systems directly.
TIR works more or less out of the box. With FaceTrackNoIR I had to configure all axis (it offers 6 DOF!) individually until I got satisfactory head movement in cockpit. Some even needed to be inverted. Tracking is a bit slower than with TIR, but I'm sure that can be improved either by digging deeper into config options or over time when updates for FaceTrackNoIR emerge. But the bottom line is: It works!

To me this was a revelation. I can get head tracking on par with TIR from OpenSource software and a simple web cam below 30€! The best part is that I don't need any reflectors or LEDs. The extra equipment always bothered me.

So I encourage all of you to give it a shot wether you own a TrackIR or FreeTrack or not.

I'm using FTN with a variety of sims, with mixed results.
Can you share your config for RoF?
Cheers,
Keith

Good news, i really prefer to just sit in front of my screem without looking like a Cyborg lol

gonna give it a shot, lost my track IR camera. Missing head control big time, too hard to hit the buttons and control view and fly and padlock is just to, well, locking.

Too bad these guys can't make the kinect work with their software, probably a bit more accurate. You wouldn't think it'd be that hard to incorporate it into allready existing software. The one thing i always hated about trackir was having to wear a hat or something else to mount the dots.

The relevant parts of my RoF.ini:



That's what I got so far. I deactivated (sensXXX=0) the roll and Z axis because they are of little benefit to me. (The .ini files are plain text files located at ...\FaceTrackNoIR\Settings\.) I'm not quite sure what the "redXXX" values do. The filter is another point worth investigating further.

tried this out today. It's definitely not as accurate as trackir and completely loses me when i turn my head not too far either direction. Needs alot of light to work properly as well it seems. Works though and definitely cheaper than TrackIR which i think is a tad overpriced.

I didn't notice an increased loss of tracking at all - TIR fails beyond certain deflections, too. The quality of FTN tracking is influenced by many factors: lighting (as you mentioned), the type of camera and the camera's position. Also, note that the face tracking requires some CPU power. Loss in precision might result from insufficient CPU performance.

Thanks for the ROF settings, I'll try them out.
The red settings control the responsiveness, lower=faster.
Might increase cpu load.
All a bit of a black art...
Cheers,
Keith

@ moderator, can you please relocate or add this to one of the resource or knowledge stickies?
This is simply great information that can potentially help a lot of people enjoy this sim who are otherwise on a budget.

Also means they can spend those savings on more RoF buses and crates!

Could be the camera i'm using. was a logitech quickcam stx. If i turned my head more than 45 degrees or so it would lose me everytime. the camera was also running at VERY low FPS. Something like 7hz i think. I tweaked with it a little and got it up to 14hz and it was better. I wish their site would go into a bit more detail as to which cameras ran at higher HZ as that seems to make a huge difference as to how smooth it is.

My only gripe with this approach is that it requires ALOT of light in the room for the camera to work and i usually play in the dark. Maybe my issues stem more from the camera i was using.

Tempted to try freetrack as i still have my track IR clip, looks like all i need is some IR lights to reflect off it, but then i have to wear the hat.

I'm hoping someone manages to write a program that works with kinect since i got one of those for the kids, it'd be easy to just use that.