Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED headtracker review pt VII: Playing ALL PlayStation 3 games with the headtracking and PS 1 and 2 games too!

Why ....? because with the Zeiss headtracker we can....

How ....?

PS3 sixaxis emulation lets us use a PC mouse to control PS3 games and as the Cinemizer OLED headtracker emulates a mouse, this lets us use the headtracker as a PC mouse and thus introduce headtracking control to  any and ALL PS3 games , PS2 games , PS1 games which assign the right dual shock stick to fov movement ... and as I would discover sword swiping in Metal Gear Rising ..yes I really can slice a melon with a swipe of my head using the Zeiss head tracker... it's very messy though! 

We can introduce headtracking to PS3 games  with software and or hardware... none of which requires hacking of any kind!!

1. UBUNTU + GIMX  Bluetooth.. the first method ..... does not cost you anything either ..relying on stuff you have lying around ..say a laptop  or Raspberry Pi and a USB stick   totally free , and it will get you acquainted with UBUNTU ...

I downloaded Ubuntu.... made a live Ubuntu USB... and followed the instructions on the GIMX page to install it . The PS3 is blessed with Bluetooth controllers so we are going to use the Zeiss headtracker with Ubuntus Bluetooth recognition to talk to the PS3 .. which thinks the PC or Raspberry Pis Bluetooth signals are coming from a PS3 dualshock...how cunning...

Advantages ..we are in undiscovered country here with the Zeiss headtracker , we know it emulates mouse control (as well as having dof axes) but we also know that using something like the Eagle Eye requires the Eagle Eye to recognise the type of mouse it emulates...which I found out it did not after spending too much money....

GIMX uses your laptop or your Raspberry Pi ...and therefore allows standard USB mouse detection simply put , it will parse signals from any controller you can connect to your PC USB port.. So  your Ubuntu or Windows PC will recognize the Zeiss headtracker and so will your PS3 ! No worries about whether the headtracker will work ...it will do ! Promise..

GIMX has an amazing level of customization .. so we should also be able to tweak the resultant over responsive or under responsive head tracking control.. for each game individually...after all the rate at which you move your head or the way that you move your head will differ to how everyone else does. 

Translating or tailoring this individual movement to a headtracking action that in turn translates to an in game action is a challenge even the fastest headtrackers are going to face ( yes I mean you Oculus Rift) . Using GIMX we can tweak to our heart or heads content how that head movement translates into how much of an action in game ...for each game ! If you find your head movements are moving a sight too quickly or too far in Battlefield 3 ..just tweak the settings in GIMX... 

About a day of tweaking (note to Sheldon :Sarcasm!) later as well as playing around with Ubuntu on my otherwise Windows 8 laptop , after discovering Ubuntu loves touch control and the headtracker as much as Windows 8... I stumbled on a solution to the lag problem I was having ...I turned off the force update and subposition tabs , set the dpi to 2000 and suddenly I was whizzing around in Crysis ...almost lag free... then it all started to click and suddenly I was playing any game I chose using headtracking..on a console...

2.Windows 8 + GIMX Serial + Cronus : The second method I tested required the purchase of a Cronus device ...

Using GIMX Serial from Windows 8 with a USB lead connecting the Cronus to the PC I had 0 lag or setup issues... in this instance I had no problems just jumping into Crysis ..leaving all settings like Forced Updates and Subpositions checked 

You can also build your own diy USB adapter for around half this price ..but I also wanted to test if the Cronus would take a direct connection from the Zeiss headtracker ... which although it does not out of the box ..it may do after an update or a little bit of config editing ... the same way Eagle Eye and XIM should also work if they were told the id of the mouse that the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED headtracker emulates... but you cannot get at them the way you can get at Cronus through Gimx... 

Cronus has a side micro USB to USB port that we attach to the Laptop and therefore Gimx

Including Gimx in the loop has serious advantages, mainly being able to tweak configs for each game or game type..as we chose and not having to pay,wait for or download developer approved config files... the way you want your sights to move in a FPS game may not be the way you want the FOV to move in a third person game for instance ..

At this stage though I was overjoyed to get head tracking working in ALL PS3 games and this solution means we can get headtracking in ALL PS1 and PS2 games too....

and here's the proof:

Remember you do not need an expensive laptop, or desktop, you can achieve the same result with a Raspberry Pi. 

The most fascinating prospect though is that of mobile computing. Our computers are getting smaller,I used a laptop in this test imagine doing the same with a wearable computer, our phones are about to run Ubuntu ... at a very near  point in time you could have your phone or mobile pc allowing you to use headtracking on your console games or PC games ...wireless... And not too far off we could have the successor to Bluetooth or Wifi IN the hmd or headtracker ...We are closer to wireless headtracking and wireless display hmds than we think... it's not all GLASS!

I was not expecting the lack of lag I achieved with GIMX Bluetooth .. but it worked !

What ...... happens when you start to play PlayStation games with headtracking on your Cinemizer OLED hmd??

The above video only shows you proof that you can use the Zeiss headtracker with any PS3 game and cannot convey the experience of actually playing wearing the Cinemizer OLED hmd and using the headtracker for the very first time to play PlaySation 3 games.. but that's what I'm here for...

With the advent of new control schemes like the Zeiss Headtracker and LEAP Motion ( more on that next time) reviews of games are going to involve HOW we play as much as what we play .. for instance 

FPS games  this is where current headtracker development ( Oculus Rift ) seems entrenched ..with the Zeiss though we can play FPS games on our PS 1,2 and 3 

Crysis  PS3 ..the best in the series and always the first game I needed to test head tracking ... Lush Cry Engine 3 jungle and sand stretch out before me and with the headtracker I can finally just look around all of Crytek's creation ..down to the small birds around the different types of foliage , directly at the gunfire coming towards me ..cloak engaged ... The whole way you move through the environment changes with head tracking ..you look round just like you would if you were traversing real terrain. This is subtle so much more different than the old now legacy mouse or PS3 right thumb stick .. after all what is the beauty and power achieved by Cryengine 3 ..(!) when you have to reach down to a mouse or hit a thumbstick to look around at some tweety bird thing or the shiney alien tentacles about to grab on to you ... why can't you just look at them and so does your game ... wait you can with the Zeiss headtracker...

Third person games : third person games are going to benefit greatly from headtracking fov control .. as much as FPS games will...if not more...

In Journey with the headtracker taking over the right stick duty .. we can now move our field of view and run towards where we are looking .. And that beautiful award winning world of sand can be experienced in a whole new manner ..using the headtracker to spin round the view or move to a point is jaw dropping . HOW you play just changed before you would shift the right thumbstick to a point of interest wait for the fov to swing round and then push the left thumbstick whilst holding the right stick in the direction of where you want to go... With the headtracker you just look towards where you want to run , pushing the left stick (or in this case keyboard) forwards to run there ...

There is a feeling of awe and connection to the game world as not only the screen moves to your head movements but your character runs and slides down sand dunes following your head movements..see something interesting you no longer push a stick to get your character running you just look at it and your character is already heading to wards it , see something interesting to your left just turn to look at it .. I find myself sitting on a dune just looking around using headtracking at the serene landscape ..my head movement  effortlessly framing the beautiful vistas 

Metal Gear Rising : as I said earlier theoretically you can mash melons with your melon! Yes just shake your head and he will shake his sword...totally useless ..but you can also control your fov ...

Resident Evil 5 ... I am walking that street at the start of the game and looking round like I want to ..and so is my character ..it feels much closer to being there... and so much cooler than using a Move or thumbstick to change the fov...you no longer have to keep a button or thumbstick in a certain position to look at something .. you just look .. 

Then there are the obvious driving and simulation games ... all waiting to be tested!

So we now have Carl Zeiss Cinemizer OLED headtracking in any PS3 , PS2 and PS1 game... 

Next up on thegameveda:

 Enabling Cinemizer OLED headtracking in  all Xbox 360  games 

and  Preparing for VR: Combining Leap Motion+ Zeiss Headtracking+Kinect Voice Recognition in PS3 and Xbox 360 games

It's 2013 and time you get your Virtual On! 

....indeed.......



thanks to Matlo and the awesome GIMX and the guys behind Cronus 

and Carl Zeiss 

 Purchase  in the UK/EU the Zeiss Cinemizer OLED 3D iPack including iPhone adapter and in the USA the Cinemizer OLED , 

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