The great challenge of simracing is to make the player feel really inside the cockpit of their vehicle. To do this, more and more sophisticated tools have been developed over the years: extremely accurate physical models, game peripherals with force-feedback and/or identical in all respects to those used in reality. But all this, combined with hyper-realistic 3D graphics, is not enough: even if equipped with a 4K resolution screen we would still have to deal with the “tunnel” effect due to the limited angle of view. To obtain the maximum immersion effect, the simracer needs to be literally placed inside the “virtual” world of the game and to be able to look around it by moving the head, rather than acting on a controller command.
Today virtual reality comes up against us with a wide range of VR headsets (Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, etc …), however in this article we will focus on an equally functional alternative: TrackIR 5.
TrackIR 5 is a head movement tracking device, useful for many applications including simracing, so that real movements are accurately linked to the game view. Tracking takes place by means of an infrared camera positioned above the PC monitor which detects the light reflected by a small metal clip with 3 reflective stickers which must be fixed to the visor of a common cap.
Alternatively, to increase tracking accuracy, it is possible to purchase the TrackClip Pro separately, a clip equipped with 3 infrared LEDs that must be attached to the headphones. This accessory definitely increases the performance of the system, which is already excellent even with only the standard passive clip.
The main feature of the TrackIR 5 is to track the movement of the head at 6 degrees of freedom; in other words, in addition to being able to rotate the viewpoint left, right (yaw), up and down (pitch), it will also be possible to move it forward, backward (with), left, right (x), raise it, lower it (y) and tilt it left and right (roll) exactly as you can do with your head.
The control software of TrackIR 5, damn user-friendly, processes the signals received from the camera and converts them into the relative keyboard/mouse commands for controlling the point of view used by the game being played, which is automatically detected. Obviously, the software also applies a sort of “acceleration” to the detected movement in order to allow us to move the camera at 360 degrees while keeping the monitor within reach of our eyes: to understand us, to be able to look behind us it will be enough to move the head roughly 30 degrees effective.
The software also allows you to disable some of the six degrees of freedom that make up the movement of the head. In simracing, in fact, in order to have a stable image it is convenient to keep only the pitch and the yaw. However, as you may want to use TrackIR 5 with other applications as well (such as flight simulators), it is possible to create a custom profile for each of your compatible games with the device.
Having TrackIR is especially useful in driving simulation when you are behind the wheel of GT cars; the fixed field of vision that the monitor offers you is quite penalizing due to the presence of the vehicle’s roll-bar pillars which limit the view. In other circumstances, the view of the curb or the inside curve enters the field of view of the monitor too late, so the “look to apex” that TrackIR offers you overcomes this limitation. With this device we control the view with our head, and in addition to the classic apex, it is useful for cars that do not have mirrors that fit into the frame (especially for those who, passionate about pure simulation, abhor the use of the virtual mirror). In this specific case, just move the head slightly to go and look for the “real” mirror. A further help is obtained when making the pitstop, a look in the opposite direction and you will avoid the classic bang at the exit of the pit lane, but even after an off track, in returning we almost always have the view placed in the direction of the race, while the cars that arrive are on the opposite side, again a slight movement of the head, and you can immediately assess whether the return is feasible or not. Last but not least, the possibility to admire the interior in the details that you would never normally see, since it is possible to “zoom in” and look at virtually 360°.
While not better than VR headsets (the immersion into the virtual experience that this tool offers is in fact unbeatable thanks to the breadth of the visual field, capable of showing the scene even in the outermost part of one’s peripheral vision), the use of TrackIR 5 still has some notable advantages:
- Better performance: a VR Headset requires a lot of computing power to work (in fact the CPU / GPU must render the scene twice), while the TrackIR has very modest hardware requirements.
- Better graphics quality: the 2560 × 1440 pixels (2K resolution) of the LCD of the Rift S must be divided into 2 mini screens of 1280 × 1440 (one per eye), while with the TrackIR 5 we can enjoy the 2K/4K rendering in all its splendor.
- No nausea effect (motion sickness).
- Full control of the surrounding environment and therefore of all gaming and non-gaming peripherals (button box, keyboard, mouse) through peripheral vision, impossible to have with VR Headset.
- Definitely lower cost than a VR Headset (Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, etc …).
The only really negative aspect that characterizes the TrackIR is that the movement of the head through which you control the view is not supported by the monitor, on which your eyes must remain focused. Instruments like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive allow you to move your head in any direction and always have the two mini screens of the VR Headset in front of your eyes.
TrackIR 5 and Assetto Corsa Competizione
For those wishing to use TrackIR 5 with Assetto Corsa Competizione, a game profile created by pankykapus (supervising 3D vehicle artist, car production management and PC beta testing management by Kunos simulations) is available on the simulator’s official forum, although it does need to reverse the yaw axis as the left/right rotation (yaw) works in the opposite way.
Note: to use TrackIR 5 with Assetto Corsa Competizione, remember to update the device control software in order to include ACC among the supported games.
Alternatively, if you wish to take advantage of the aforementioned profile already optimized and ready to use, you can download it by clicking here.
The profile must be selected as shown in the figure below, not before copying it to this folder: C: \ Users \ YOUR_USER_NAME \ AppData \ Roaming \ NaturalPoint \ TrackIR 5 \ Profiles
Note: to locate the path of the “Profiles” folder you need to enable access to hidden folders.
Useful links
Trinacria Simracing 