Why have it just track heads?

Why not have it track hands instead? Casting spells in RPGs could become more interesting.

Somebody always brings up TrackIR in these threads.

Personally, I don't see the appeal of head tracking as a means of pivoting the camera in a cockpit. You turn your head to the left to move the camera left, then end up looking at the screen out of the right corner of your eye to see what's to your left. Huh? Kind of breaks any immersion when you have to look right to look left, doesn't it?

The main potential of head tracking is the 3D illusion that can be created with it, making the visuals extremely immersive. This 3D illusion is the only advantage a game like Boom Blox is going to get out of it, but it's an advantage which almost any 3D game can have, especially ones which might have a player standing up and moving around.

A less broadly applicable advantage is using head tracking for minute movements, such as ducking behind cover in a shooter. I've personally enjoyed this mechanic in an arcade rail shooter called Police 9-1-1, though technically that game is tracking bodies.

As Played_Out notes, head tracking isn't new, but it also hasn't reached its full potential because it has always been an afterthought in game design, never a core game concept. Even though the PC is capable of using any input device, all programming starts with the assumption of keyboard and mouse only. Throwing in head tracking as an afterthought results in a player sitting at a desk with his keyboard and mouse and being very careful about his head positioning.

The potential of building a mass-market game with head tracking as a core gameplay mechanic and bundling it with an LED headband + wii remote stand or Eyetoy is enormous.

Like pointed out before, head tracking is nothing new. The most widespread commercial use I can think of is in compact digital cameras which have had face recognition (essentially the same thing) for quite some time already. And everybody knows (or at least should know) how little computing power those devices have in comparison to any current get console.

I believe that next gen some of the manufacturers is going to implement a sensor bar type of device with two cameras built in, essentially enablin 3D tracking of face/hands/whatever. None of this stuff is new, though currently it's usually done using stereo cameras and color markers. Maybe by next gen the software side of things has progressed far enough to work reliably without any extra markings required.

For an example of a game that is (or at least was, don't know the current situation) under development see http://www.virtualairguitar.com

Reading their page, and the old site, you'll notice that the project where the user interface technology, i.e. hand tracking was developed started 2001 and lasted until 2004, so the tech has certainly been around for years already.

This is really simple, lets deal in facts:

-The PS3 version uses processing power to track your location, and a significant amount of it as facial recognition is not a lite-weight application. Once the face is recognized the software also needs to convert this into coordinates.
-The Wii version uses no processing power to track your location, the IR camera being used has circuitry integrated that tracks 4 points of IR light and returns their coordinates to the system.
- Both methods require the console to handle the effect on the game.
- The Eye updates its 640x480 image at 60 FPS, however the video displayed shows it running at around 25-30 FPS, this is more obvious when its showing the facial tracking portion. A final product could easily be optimised for full 60FPS imo.
-The Wii method tracks an unspecified resolution always at 30 FPS.
-Based on the tech specs I could find on the Eye it is incapable of accurate depth perception without additional information from the user.
-The Wii method can track accurate depth with the sensor bar but with the IR glasses would also require additional user input.
- The average Wii owner wishing to enable Head Tracking would require a game(software) that recognizes it and IR LED glasses with are about $3-$5.
-The average PS3 owner wishing to enable Head Tracking would require a game(software) that recognizes it and the Eye which is $70 with the game at Target (didn't see it without).
-The PS3 method runs the risk of false positives if others are sitting near/around you and has no clear way to distinguish who it should focus on.
-The Wii method utilizing the IR glasses has no trouble staying focused on the correct target since they must wear the glasses.

Say what you will about them but based on the information freely available on the interwebz those are the weaknesses and strengths I could find. Personally I think the Wii has a slight edge with current tech, but realistically speaking it doesn't matter. There simply will not be very many games with head tracking this generation and IF it becomes a big deal at all it will be next generation and everyone will have the opportunity to implement technology designed for it rather than backporting existing tech to achieve the goal.

On one hand, I agree that it probably is weird to use at first, and potentially disorienting.  I've never personally used TrackIR.  However, you can't really tell me that moving your head to look around doesn't seem like a good idea.  Currently you have to use either the analog stick or the d-pad to look around in racing games.  Both are hardly ideal control options.  And if you are using a racing wheel?  You are out of luck.  Being able to see the corner while using a racing wheel I imagine is an awesome experience, and would allow you to hit the apex of a turn with amazing precision.  I mean, there's a reason why TrackIR exists, and still exists, and continues to make products.  There's a market for these type of input devices (mostly for hardcore sim gamers), and obviously people enjoy using these peripherals.  I would get one, but the steep pricetag puts me off.

 Well you should really add that for the Wii you HAVE to mount the Wiimote on top of your TV in order to track your relative position. This means that you have to have an extra Wiimote (+$50) besides the glasses and/or sensor bar on head, in order ot make it work and play the game with another one in your hand. So in terms of pricing, it is comparable...

You are right though about the false tracking risk that exists with the PSEye... 

^ it's actually + $40 but, i get your point.

OT: it looks pretty good to me. I just wish he would move faster though, i want to see how well it tracks your head at high speed.

ive was watching a program on tele and it was showin nvida's 3d polarized glasses, where they make games in 3d, which was well better than the old blue and red filters,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7258671.stm - its near the bottom of that page, but if some how sony could get that technology into a game with the face tracking, and you got a gun and some sort of controller to move back and forwards and to jump and do other crap, it would be well amazing

The Cell processor is designed for this sort of application (streaming data processing) - Give it a few years and some developer will have games you play using hand gestures, facial expressions, voice recognition and so on. Imagine shadow boxing against computerised opponents it would be the ultimate finess video game practice real fighting techniques while playing a game. This sort of level of interaction is the way of the future IMO.

Wii sports tries to achieve this sort of thing and is a huge success. Pretty sad that sony could be doing something even better with the ps3eye (or at least similar with the sixaxis) but are too slow or stupid to realise it and as a result are being outsold 2:1 by nintendo - they have not even bothered to release HV bowling where i am yet !.
Still mabey we will see some new ideas eventually. For now PS3 is busy fighting X360t for 2nd place by making more stupid FPS-thumbstick games.

Looks good and although I don't see it being used is any games but maybe FPS (Looking round corners and such alike. :D ), although, still cool.

@Sqrl
Re: Your depth perception on the Eye thing, although true, I think the software would be able to handle it slighty, although you'd have to move alot from your seated position to really make any difference in a game but, the software seemed to take the nose a a point focus on the face. If it can recognise when the pink square (I think it was pink) gets larger or smaller, this could replicate depth perception.

And on the false tracking, thing, I'd guess you they could make it so you 'lock', once that face is there, you can make it so that if any other person enters the area, it ignores it. Although this is just a presumption.

Also, the Eye can be bought on it's own.