Head Tracker

I developed some head trackers for audio-only VR applications. They are patent pending and are now in early-stage production.

This is just a render. Pre-production units are expected on 6th August 2020

Headline figures

  1. 3 degrees of freedom with precision better than one degree. (6 degrees of freedom mode is being researched, but I’m not promising it.)
  2. Choice of 10ms or 20ms sensor readout rate.
  3. USB MIDI class compliant, and can also be used with a UART for embedded applications.
  4. Output as quaternions, Tait-Bryan angles (yaw-pitch-roll), or a transformation matrix.
  5. Two buttons for hardware orientation resetting and configuration; this can also be done remotely.
This is not a mockup. These DT-990s really report the wearer’s head orientation to within a fraction of a degree, up to 100 times per second. The head tracker took a minute to install, and is completely enclosed by the headband padding,

Resources for people on the alpha programme

Supperware Firmware Tool

This app connects to your head tracker, tells you the version of firmware it is currently running, and allows you to upgrade. Download the appropriate one for your system.

Firmware images

Supperware Firmware Tool will ask for a .bin file. Voilà. Get the appropriate version for your hardware or you won’t be able to upgrade.

  • image-0.13-v3.bin (2020-03-22) for v3 head trackers (flex-rigid PCBs)
  • image-0.12-v2.bin (2020-03-22) for v2 head trackers (fixed to a steel headband). Note: 0.13-v2 temporarily withdrawn while I investigate compatibility issues.

Documentation

  • If you’re a programmer, the MIDI specification is what you need to communicate with the head tracker. Here’s the old one (that goes with the V2 and V3 head tracker) and here’s the new one (which will be the only one in future).
  • Here are some very brief instructions about how to upgrade your head tracker.
  • Release notes tell you what has been fixed or changed since the last version you downloaded.