SmoothTrack

John Goering

About this app

SUPPORTS ANY DEVICE WHICH CAN INSTALL GOOGLE AR SERVICES.

SmoothTrack provides 3D head tracking for your sim games, using the AR capabilities of your device. Any game that supports TrackIR works with SmoothTrack!

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"The best new controller on the market will only set you back $9.99. It's a smartphone app called SmoothTrack, and if you're flying a plane on PC, you need to check it out." - Polygon
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It's a near magical experience to seamlessly slightly move your head and have your game perspective immediately play along (the movements in the game are magnified so that you only have to make slight movements of your head to control the camera).

- Simply lean forward to get a closer look at your Flight Simulator cockpit!
- Look a bit up to see the overhead panel of your A320!
- Simply shift your head a bit to the right to see the direction of the space station you're approaching in Elite: Dangerous!
- Look a bit left before a hard left turn in Euro Truck Simulator 2!

No headset or extra equipment of any kind is required! Simply set up your device so that it can see your face. Using the on-screen controls, you can shift your perspective in-game.

Your head movements are slightly exaggerated which enables you to look out of a cockpit side window with just a slight movement of your head to the left.

Includes a dark mode to save your battery and your OLED screen!

Any game that supports the FreeTrack or TrackIR protocol will work with this, including:

- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Microsoft FSX
- Elite: Dangerous
- IL2: Sturmovik
- Euro Truck Simulator 2
- Kerbal Space Program
- ...and many, many others!

INSTRUCTIONS (included in the app):

On your PC:

On your computer, install and run the free program OpenTrack at github.com/opentrack/opentrack/releases.
Press the Windows key -> type "Firewall" -> "Firewall & Network Protection" -> "Advanced Settings" -> Inbound Rules -> New Rule... -> Program -> Program Path to opentrack.exe (probably "c:\program files (x86)\opentrack\opentrack.exe")
Right click on your network symbol at the bottom right of Windows, choose "Open Network & Internet Settings" -> Change Connection Properties -> Choose "Private" instead of "Public" (this will make your PC discoverable to your mobile device)
Press the Windows key -> "Command Prompt" -> type "ipconfig". Find your local IPv4 address (normally starts with 192.168... but maybe 10.0... or theoretically something else)
Now restart OpenTrack.
In Input, choose UDP and open up the settings and note the port (probably 4242).
As Output, choose "Freetrack 2.0 Enhanced" and "Both" in its settings.
In Options, bind a hotkey of your choice to "Center" (say, F10)
Press Start in OpenTrack.

On your mobile device:

(If you have more than one wifi around you to connect to, then in your phone, set any other wifis "Auto-Join" to "off")
Now restart SmoothTrack.
As "IP address" in SmoothTrack, enter the local IPv4 address from above.
As "Port", enter the port from above.
Press Play.

Email support is provided if there are any issues (or if you have any ideas for new features!).

Ratings and reviews

I am a trackIR user and though trackir has great tracking, I was interested in this solution given ease of use. With trackir, I have to attach the ir module to my headset, plus a 5v rechargeable battery. Its weight and wires on my headset that becomes uncomfortable after a while. Plus trackir does not work in daylight. This solution thus far has worked great without the hassle of wires, battery, and sensor all velcro strapped to my headset. Simply place my phone in front of me and go!

I'm a fairly avid Flight Simmer, but never really got the hype around head-tracking. Until I tried it. This program was extremely easy to setup and use (worked very first try with Microsoft Flight Simulator), and did a fantastic job of making it super easy to look around the cockpit, look out the window, duck down and change the settings on my PFD, etc. It was shockingly natural at how easily it all just "worked". I'm amazed, and very appreciative. I will be a dedicated user for a long time now, I'm sure.

There needs to be a way to switch the camera, as it defaults to the one that uses records in lower quality for me, which in turn affects the quality of the head tracking. It runs well otherwise, but the quality is hard to judge without being able to access the best camera. I give it 4 because it does offer a great work around to more expensive options, but it really is a bit disappointing that a simple camera swap options is not available on a paid app.

What's new

* Much improved the angle calibration with fancy 3D math - even if the phone is a bit off to the side, your view will now be centered!
* Added a bright mode to improve face tracking in darker environments like your mom's basement.