rec.autos.simulators

by **pdot..** » Sun, 18 Jun 2006 01:31:54

Anybody ever try one of these?:

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

The price is right, and I could definitely live with 800x600.

by **pdot..** » Sun, 18 Jun 2006 22:36:30

No comments? 800x600 resolution with head tracking included for $549!
That sounds great.

I was reading comments in some forums and it sounds like they work
great in flight sims. No real negative comments so far. Someone said
they had used it in LFS and it worked great.

> Anybody ever try one of these?:

> http://www.3dvisor.com/

> The price is right, and I could definitely live with 800x600.

by **Tony Rickar** » Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:24:37

> No comments? 800x600 resolution with head tracking included for $549!
> That sounds great.

> I was reading comments in some forums and it sounds like they work
> great in flight sims. No real negative comments so far. Someone said
> they had used it in LFS and it worked great.

Didn't see any support mentioned for racing sims - just fps and a few
which didn't work.

I'd like to see a review with a racing sim, preferably not from someone
having just shelled out $549 and justifying their purchase!

Cheers
Tony

by **Asgeir Nesoe** » Wed, 21 Jun 2006 17:59:50

I'm quite e***d about this too. 800x600 without glitches and hiccups
sounds just about right for racing sim immersion. The head tracker thing
sounds promising as well...

The 3dvision web site was rather meager in info on tech solution, so I
was wondering if this piece of hardware works by way of a driver or
what. What is really required to get a piece of 3d software to work on
it. Stuff like that... A decent display will cost you USD549 anyway...

---A---

>> No comments? 800x600 resolution with head tracking included for $549!
>> That sounds great.

>> I was reading comments in some forums and it sounds like they work
>> great in flight sims. No real negative comments so far. Someone said
>> they had used it in LFS and it worked great.

> Didn't see any support mentioned for racing sims - just fps and a few
> which didn't work.

> I'd like to see a review with a racing sim, preferably not from someone
> having just shelled out $549 and justifying their purchase!

> Cheers
> Tony

by **Tony Rickar** » Wed, 21 Jun 2006 19:49:47

> I'm quite e***d about this too. 800x600 without glitches and hiccups
> sounds just about right for racing sim immersion. The head tracker thing
> sounds promising as well...

> The 3dvision web site was rather meager in info on tech solution, so I
> was wondering if this piece of hardware works by way of a driver or
> what. What is really required to get a piece of 3d software to work on
> it. Stuff like that... A decent display will cost you USD549 anyway...

From my understanding it relies on tracking mouse movement - so ideal
for fps games as listed and for flight sims which incorporate a mouse
look facility. I think LFS might allow this, not sure about other racing
sims. TrackIR can do either mouselook or is supported directly by the
software. If this requires further software support to work in products
without mouse look then it may not work with most racing sims?

Cheers
Tony

by **pdot..** » Wed, 21 Jun 2006 21:08:39

> > ...What is really required to get a piece of 3d software to work on
> > it. Stuff like that... A decent display will cost you USD549 anyway...

> From my understanding it relies on tracking mouse movement...

rFactor supports "free look", which is mouse tracking. I think the
default button for activating free look is 'U'. I've driven around a
bit with one hand on the wheel and one on the mouse, looking around as
I go. That was not very comfortable! But, I can imagine that with
head tracking tied to display output it would be pretty neat.

Pat Dotson
http://www.kartcalc.com

by **Tony Rickar** » Thu, 22 Jun 2006 06:46:31

> rFactor supports "free look", which is mouse tracking. I think the
> default button for activating free look is 'U'. I've driven around a
> bit with one hand on the wheel and one on the mouse, looking around as
> I go. That was not very comfortable! But, I can imagine that with
> head tracking tied to display output it would be pretty neat.

I have never been able to cope with the view straight ahead of me moving
around using look left or right buttons, hence I prefer the wide screen
or three monitor type approach. I can look left or right but I am aware
of the view straight ahead of me - just like driving on the road. How a
head set would compare I have no idea.

Cheers
Tony

by **pdot..** » Thu, 22 Jun 2006 22:03:05

> I have never been able to cope with the view straight ahead of me moving
> around using look left or right buttons,

Me neither. It's not intuitive at all, and seems impossible to get
used to. I lose all awareness of the direction of car movement. I
think the cause of the loss of spatial awareness is that the
relationship between the virtual car in the simulation and your seated
position changes. As the view on the screen moves, the orientation of
the virtual car rotates compared to your body.

While looking side to side with the multiple monitor setup, the
orientation of the virtual car stays constant compared to your body.
It is very similar to real world driving.

You have a sweet setup. I really want to have a setup like that. I
have the extra monitors available, but cost of additional hardware and
available space have stopped me so far.

It 'should' be a lot like the multiple monitor approach. The view in
front of your eyes changes as you move your head, but, assuming
everything is calibrated correctly, the orientation of the virtual car
relative to your body should not change. That should let the driver
maintain spatial awareness while looking all around. Plus, it frees
you even further from the constraints of viewing through a monitor.
Even with three monitors your field of view is limited.

Seems like it would be very immersive. I really thought we all would
be using these devices five or six years ago. The thing stopping it
was the multiple $1000's needed for an HMD with decent display
resolution. 800x600 is probably the minimum acceptable resolution to
most people. $500 isn't cheap, but it's not unreasonable either if the
technology works well. So, at least for me, seems like we've finally
hit the price/performance point where I'm about ready to jump in.

Pat Dotson

by **pdot..** » Thu, 22 Jun 2006 23:28:33

Whoa! I'm about ready to pull out the Visa after reading this at
SimHQ. Scroll down to the '3D Viewing' part:

http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_080c.html

by **Ed Medli** » Fri, 23 Jun 2006 00:02:25

Just remember that without a multi-monitor system when you move your head
you are looking away from your monitor. It can be very hard to actually
"see" the effects. I did a review on 3d glasses for a flight sim site and it
was very positive. I later had to do a follow-up on it because after an hour
or more of constant use it began to cause very bad headaches with a lot of
people and not just me. This was a couple of years ago and I am sure that
the technology has gotten better, but I just wanted to inject into the
thread that not all may be positive for this technology.

Ed