How can we improve the Oculus Rift platform?

← Oculus Rift S and Rift

Allow Rift S to use external cameras from the original Rift

Everyone who has upgraded to the Rift S from the CV1 has encountered a downgrade in tracking in various games. A great example would be shooter games where you have to aim down sights, which causes you to lose tracking since the controller is too close to the headset. Supporting the external cameras would allow more people to upgrade from the original rift without sacrificing their tracking. Also people with the Rift S would have the option to purchase more cameras to “enhance the experience”. The only issues that can possibly be encountered would be USB bandwidth errors from having the sensors and the Rift S, however 1 or 2 external cameras should provide a more seamless experience to the Rift S.

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Trevor shared this idea  ·   ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →

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  • Holy Totemic commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I have both the rift and the rift s, and I would love to use the rift s headset and the rift controllers and sensors with each other. The Rift s could handle its own, and the controllers could be tracked buy the rift sensors. It would be perfect.

  • Lawrence Russell commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This is one of the biggest features I've wanted since I got the headset. Now people misinterpret what we're asking for, the headset itself cannot be tracked by external sensors as it has no IR emitters, WE KNOW THAT we want the CONTROLLERS to be tracked. The headset can track itself in any position just fine, the issue is the large amount of deadspots that the controllers can't be tracked in, controllers with IR emitters that the external trackers CAN detect. The lack of updates, development, improvements, or even acknowledgement that Oculus even care about Rift s users is quite frankly the headsets biggest downfall, while the Quest gets treated like a perfect baby with plenty of features, improvements, and updates, the S is treated like the problem child, and issues that have been around for over a year are not addressed. Every new update the Quest gets is like another kick to the balls for Rift s users.

  • Sean Finney commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Similar to new inside-out tracking headsets which have 'skipped' the lighthouse and has an 'upgrade' to be used. I would expect (and it would be best for Oculus to just say so) that this is not technically possible with this generation.

    Maybe 'new' lighthouse (webcam? ... Kinect like tech).

    I believe that CV1 has embedded LEDs that the cameras use, and the Rift S/Quest both do not. Boy it'd be nice if we just had a FAQ about 'impossible' tasks so we can know to not vote on them.

  • Brian commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Still hoping and wishing for this to happen. The tracking is not bad per say, but I don't see why not give users the option to cover more blind spots.

  • Tom commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This is a must-have for me, it kinda works, for the most part, some experiences and games require precision tracking close to the body or if the controllers in front of each other or behind your back. It does not work.

    Oculus has a BIG choice here, produce a product that it's known you can't get this type of precision tracking / blind spots and customers will need to look to competitor products, or your fix it.

    In Rift CV1 days, you wanted better tracking, you guy buy another sensor.

    It will be interesting to see what place Oculus will take in the VR world now.

  • Atticus Nari commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Same for allowing the old controllers. When I emailed them about it, they said they couldn't due to the fact that it uses different tracking, but it's literally like a switch in the settings

  • Foxeh Shihōin commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    lol this was actually one of the biggest reasons why i wasn't too interested in the rift-S

    i like the idea of inside-out tracking, but if you actually have the extra sensors, wouldn't it be nice to take advantage of it?

  • Scott commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Guys before Rift S released they said they could do this. After release I sent a message to Carmack on twitter and he replied, if you go find that message on twitter you can see what he said. From memory it was something along the lines of "We could do it, but it would be a lot of work, better to hope that Insight tracking improves with future updates". That was the response I got from the man himself.

    I would like to be able to use our original Constellation tracking too but it doesn't seem likely. I hope I'm wrong.

  • nfs nfs commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I'm pretty sure it's less than a week of work from Oculus engineer on their SDK, just like using Vive controller with WMR, they can allow using Rift S HMD work separately with Touch + sensor. so the only thing they have to do is to enable using touch to be active without its own HMD.
    They don't even have to code a new maths/algorithm etc... to make Rift S controller work with external sensor, only letting old sensors and Touch work simultaneously with Rift S and ditch Rifts S controller.
    But then they will never do this as they will have to admit their Rift S controller isn't perfect and that will drive people away from Rift S. so maybe some unknown guy like revive guy can do this.

  • Ben Reierson commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I came here for the first time specifically to find this. I had perfect tracking with the cv1 sensors and still have them. The rift s tracking is good, but clearly limited somewhat. I get tracking issues at the edges while playing beat saber. I have a pretty bright room (lots of windows with no black-out capability), and I think the redundancy of the three sensors helped the old system a lot.

    It seems obvious there is no technical reason this can't be done. In fact, it would be a great hackathon task. If I were a new member on the team, I'd use this to show how much I've grokked the tracking tech.

    I know it will be niche, but it could just be an 'experimental' feature. You can try it, it may work, but it's not fully supported. It would go a LONG way towards rewarding loyalty and not fully abandoning older tech.

  • Jake "BIOHAZRED" commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    So hear me out, anyone who plays the rift S all day that also owns a cv1 knows the rift cv1 has superior tracking.

    The connection is not between the cv1 and its controllers but instead directly fed to the pc via the external sensors.
    So with the S being the HMD and the controller tracking from CV1 controllers and external sensors you get the accuracy of a hawk and the clarity of the Rift S nice crisp visuals... I think external sensors and cv1 controllers should be an option for us hardcore gamers!

    I mean it's not like a lot of us don't already own both 😅

  • Chance J. Ward commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Not being able to use my existing sensors with the Rift S is the one and only reason I am not upgrading. I'll be buying a Rift S the same day this is fully implemented.

  • Avery Dunkerley commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Cv1 touch on the s probably would have some tracking issues, but for people with a cv1 and quest or something like that it would be nice to be able to use the updated touch controllers on the cv1 as a spare if the original break.

  • Dave commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I too would like this feature added. It's not like the 2 systems aren't still practically and technically the same. They both use plain web cameras to track IR LEDs and they both are still USB bandwidth and power hogs.

    RiftS actually seems to use far more bandwidth and power in my testing than the Rift CV1 with 3 external camera sensors but they both still come near the USB 3.0 spec so running them off a USB 3.0 powered hub is still the correct course of action to ensure the headsets have enough clean power and should be included at time of purchase.

    After trying the rift s for a week I had to go back to the rift cv1 because I kept losing tracking when my hands are at my sides or behind me, this may not be as big a deal for those who are ultra-skinny or have not experienced full 360 degrees tracking with no occlusion but it is a pretty big deal-breaker when you realize you have to settle for a worse tracking experience, more fragile controllers and still no full body options without going to Valve, HTC or Microsoft. All of these tracking issues could be fixed with the addition of one or 2 optional external cameras without creating an undue burden on anything.

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