Self-tracking of human motion for virtual reality systems

Present tracking schemes for virtual reality position sensing have a variety of features that make their use in applications such as large classrooms or remote locations difficult. A more natural tracking method would be a lightweight, low cost, and accurate inertial tracking system. Some commercial inertial systems are discussed. As a low cost alternative, a mouse based head self-tracker has been built at North Carolina State University. Its design and operational ideas are being extended to build a less cumbersome head tracker based on the rotational axes.