Head Tracking in Games
Overview Instructions FAQ Download
"Control the game using your own head movements!"
Overview.
The following software is a modified version of the Source engine - the one behind the critically acclaimed Half-Life 2. Developed as part of my PhD, it allows the player to use a number of head gestures to control the game, including the ability to...
Zooming
The user can zoom into the scene by moving their head towards the screen.
Iron-sighting
The user can aim down the barrel of their weapon by rolling their head to the right, much like they would in real life.
Windowing (The Johnny Lee effect)
The perspective of the view is altered based on the user's head position to make the screen appear like a window into the scene.
180 Spin
The user can perform a half spin by flicking their head to either side.
Peeking
The player can look sideways and around objects in the virtual world by leaning their head.
Instructions.
Software Requirements:
  • A Source licence (i.e. HL2, CS:S, Portal, Team Fortress 2, etc)
  • Source SDK (free to download through Steam)
Hardware Requirements:
  • USB-2 Web camera preferably running at 640x480 @ 30Hz
  • Reasonable hardware (e.g. 2Ghz, 1GB RAM) running a dual-core processor
Installing:
  • Enter your email below and click on the '>'
  • Open the email you receive and download the file from the link provided
  • Unzip the file
  • Shut down Steam
  • Run 'full_setup.exe'
  • If the Face API installer does not run automatically, run 'faceapi_setup.exe'
  • If the IPP Runtime installer does not run automatically, run 'IPP5.3.3/setup.exe'
  • Connect your web camera and place it under your monitor, facing you
  • Open Steam, click on 'My Games' and run 'Head Tracking'
  • For the best performance, sit about half a meter away from your web camera
Uninstalling:
  • Run "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\SourceMods\head tracking\uninstall.exe"
  • Run "C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\STEAM_USERNAME\source sdk base\uninstall.exe"
questions: me@torbensko.com
Frequently Asked Questions
I want to put head tracking in my application. How do I do it?
Follow my integration guide. Once you have something going, let us know what you are doing so we share it with the rest of the community! We really appreciate hearing about what you are doing with this technology.
Can I use it on Windows 7?
Now that Windows 7 is officially released, it seems that the issues that people were facing in the past have disappeared - so yes, you can use Windows 7. If you're still having issues, try setting the hl2.exe (in the source sdk base folder) to run under the XP compatibly mode. Thanks to everyone sent me an email about this issue
Can I use this with a different game, such as Half-Life 2 or Call of Duty 4?
Unfortunately not, unless you have the source for those games (which unless you're the game developer, you won't)

Technically, it is possible to copy the content of other Source games (such as HL2) into the headtracking game, but legally I cannot distribute that content pre-bundled in.

The program seems slow to quit. Am I doing something wrong?
No, it's just that the system still suffers from a few teething problems. Either give the system time to shutdown or just kill it using the Task Manager.
The program doesn't run or it launches but nothing happens. What's going wrong?
Here are a few tips:

Ensure the that program has been installed to the correct directory. A head tracking folder, which contains bin, cfg, etc, should be placed within your SourceMods folder. Likewise, a resources folder should be placed in your source sdk base folder and some additional files should be placed within the source sdk base/bin folder.

If it seems that the IPP Runtime didn't install properly (meanings it's probably not listed under your Add/Remove Programs list), go to the Seeing Machines website and grab and install the latest version of the FaceAPI (http://www.seeingmachines.com/product/faceapi) as this will also include the lastest IPP Runtime.

The program runs slowly. Could it be my webcamera?
Part of the tracking performance is determined by the webcamera, so try to make sure it is running at least at 640x480 at 30 frames per second, which cannot be achieved using a USB 1.1 camera. You should also ensure you have a dual core processor for the best performance.
I cannot download the file. Why do I get a 404?
The link changes every day to avoid people hard linking to it. As such, if you don't download the file soon after receiving the email, you'll get a 404. Furthermore, if you're timing is unlucky, you may only get a few minutes to download it (an oversight on my part, which I plan to correct at some stage). In this case, just request the download again.
problems: support@torbensko.com
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