rec.autos.simulators

I'm watching the Speed Channel coverage of CART qualifying (Friday Qual) at
Long Beach.  They have a new camera mounted in the helmet of the driver -
called the "SpeedCam" - it is the most incredible in-car footage I have ever
seen.  Its mounted in the helmet of Paul Tracey.  It looks to me to have 99%
exactly the FOV of the driver, including the helmet peripheral vision
restriction.  The bouncing of the head, helmet, car (suspension) is very
realistic!  Maybe for the first time, many of you will see just how bad your
vision is....blurred badly by the movement - even in an open wheel racecar!

This is awesome stuff.

Tom

Haha, its realistic 'cuz it is real! I know what you are trying to say, I
just had to point that out.
-Stuart Becktell

It's very cool, but your eyes will filter out much of the bouncing and
blurring when you're in the actual car.  The camera will exaggerate the
effect.  So while it's a great camera shot, it doesn't necessarily represent
what the driver sees.

Doug

Tom

My point is this...  If you hold a video camera while walking, the picture
is very unstable.  If you hold a video camera and run, the picture is even
more unstable.  But when you are walking or running, you don't see an
unstable picture.  You see a very stable image.  That's simply the way out
eyes and brain work.  You have the same effect if you place a camera inside
your car or a race car.   The Speed Channel camera may be very good from a
"drivers perspective" but the image captured by the camera is not what the
driver sees.  His or her brain is stabilizing the image the same way your
brain stabilizes an image in every other activity.  I've driven open wheel
race cars, I've walked, I've run, I've jogged and in no way does a camera
process an image the way our brain processes an image.  Digital image
stabilization can assist in the problem, but the Speed Channel camera was
not using this technology.