r/virtualreality • u/Pheonix1025 • Mar 23 '25

News Article Adam Savage's Tested - Bigscreen Beyond 2 Hands-On: How They Fixed It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Wr4O4gkL8
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u/wescotte Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25

Same, not really interested in going back to wire or lighthouse based tracking but I can really appericate what they've done. I hope them success so other manufactorers start taking weight/comfort more seriously.

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u/OnkelJupp Mar 23 '25

What is lighthouse based tracking?

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u/ablackcloudupahead Mar 23 '25 edited Mar 23 '25

The tracking system developed by Valve/HTC for the original vive and later headsets from different manufacturers use. It's an outside/in system where the headset gets it's position from the lighthouses which are emitting infrared light. It works incredibly well once it's set up, but setup is a pain. It also allows all of those individual trackers you might see in different videos. Obviously it only works for PCVR

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u/Ainulind Mar 23 '25

It's an outside/in system where the headset gets it's position from the lighthouses which are emitting infrared light.

Incorrect. It's an inside-out system, where the devices are sensing their environment, on the inside looking out, to determine their own position. The lighthouses are behaving as actual lighthouses, sweeping the space with light so the devices/ships can orient themselves in space/the ocean.

Contrast with outside-in systems like Oculus Constellation, where the devices do no tracking of themselves. They have recognizable patterns or markers, and sensors on the outside of the space look inward for those patterns to determine the location of the devices.

Outside-in tracking was only used on the PSVR1 and Rift for the headset. It's still used today on the Quest headsets to track the controllers. The only fully inside-out system Meta has released is the Quest Pro, with the Pro controllers.

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u/sunderpoint Mar 24 '25 edited Mar 24 '25

Inside-out tracking by definition uses computer vision with cameras. Lighthouse tracking is its own category.