Monday, June 29, 2020

PlayStation 4 Virtual Reality Headset - External Camera Player Tracking Problem


The PlayStation 4 virtual reality headset was the first VR headset to ever hit the shelves on consoles with an intuitive design and profound graphics. Overall, I really enjoy using the Virtual Reality headset because it makes games a lot more interactive, but on this headset in particular one huge negative I have is the camera player tracking. So, unlike many newer headsets like the Oculus Rift S that uses internal tracking cameras to detect the room around you and accurately detect your movements in the game, the PSVR uses external cameras to get this job done. With this brings the glaring problem of the duo sensor camera losing direct line of site with your headsets tracking sensors and motion controllers when you duck to low or move to far to the left or right. For reference, there has been several times when I was playing the game beat saber (VR "Guitar hero") and I either have to duck low to avoid an obstacle and the camera loses tracking or I swing my arms to far to the right or left and it loses tracking. This results in having to exit to the main menu and recalibrate the headset, camera, and motion controllers, which takes at least 2-5 minutes every-time.  It is a major annoyance and there is not anyway to fix it, only to prevent it as much as possible. Some methods that have worked somewhat for me is to position the PlayStation 4 tracking camera as low as possible while still maintaining sight with you when you stand up. And to alleviate tracking issues when moving to far left or right, I found that rotating the camera just enough so that the camera captures yourself and a few feet to the left and right helps keep the issue from reoccurring. This is definitely a major negative I have with this product and hope it gets an upgrade on the PlayStation VR2. 

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