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COSMOS tracks bottom? ! Germany VDC releases headset tracking system measurement report


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Object tracking is essential for a fully immersive virtual reality experience. In order to support interaction in the virtual space, the system needs to determine the location of the headset and peripherals, so as to realistically depict the virtual world. It can be said that tracking accuracy is an important puzzle for the persuasiveness and immersion of virtual reality.

A few days ago, the German organization Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) released a head-mounted display tracking system measurement report called "Head-Mounted Displays: Messung räumlicher Präzision bei VR-Trackingsystemen".

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Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) is Germany's leading virtual engineering and virtual reality network organization. Since 2002, VDC, which includes members such as research institutions, technology suppliers, and service providers, has been cooperating on topics such as simulation, visualization, computer-aided engineering, and virtual reality.

For this experiment, the researchers attached the device to the robot arm and moved the virtual reality controller between two points 500 mm apart. The tracking performance of position 1 and position 2 will be measured by dedicated software and tools, and the results will be presented in the form of tables and graphs, including maximum deviation, average value and standard deviation.

b27d6336c5c7bb77754a3dfd8dd3cb19.png

As shown in the figure, at position 1 where the controller is closer to the VR headset, SteamVR Tracking (outward-inward tracking) is the most accurate tracking system, with a deviation between 084 and 0205 mm. Oculus Rift S (inside-out tracking), Oculus Quest (inside-out tracking) and WMR (inside-out tracking) are close to standard deviations. The error of Vive Cosmos is obviously higher: the deviation of more than 2 to 3 mm per axis is significantly higher than the average.

It should be noted that ART's ultra-precision tracking system is designed for professional application scenarios and is not sold to ordinary users. We can see that the deviation of this outward-inward tracking system is less than 0.1 mm.

95db9111000e9b0b3d25d8a6f9ad960a.png

For position 2 where the controller is farther away from the VR headset, the accuracy of the inside-out tracking system is significantly lower than that of the outside-in tracking.

According to the measurement results, the tracking system accuracy of Oculus Rift S is lower than that of Oculus Quest. This is a bit surprising, because the PC provides more computing performance, and Rift S is equipped with an additional tracking camera.
The researchers pointed out that there are significant differences in the accuracy of each tracking system: ART and SteamVR Tracking have sub-millimeter accuracy and are suitable for areas that require high-precision tracking, such as design, 3D modeling, medical technology and simulation.

However, since there is no need to install external sensors indoors, the use of inside-out tracking is more flexible. The research report stated that systems such as Quest have sufficient accuracy in collaborative applications and are suitable for use cases such as communication, meetings, training, and product demonstrations.

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This is appalling, I feel abused and let down by HTC.

I held onto the cosmos because HTC said they just needed time, WELL its nearly been a whole year and the progress has been slow and subpar.

Someone needs to be held accountable for this failure of a product.

AND on another note WHY DO AUSTRALIANS GET CHARGED MORE THAN OTHER COUNTRIES, THIS COMES ACROSS AS RACIST TO ME.

For example - the vive cosmos tracking faceplate costs USD $199 which converts to AUD $275  BUT YOU CHARGE AUSTRALIANS AUD $399 which converts to USD $287.85

 

HTC I WANT A REFUND and an APOLOGY.

 

 

 

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@Ovadose as a fellow OG Cosmos (and Aussie) I fully agree.  I pre-ordered my Cosmos from the Vive store 10 months ago for the ridiculous price of aud$1,300.  After a couple of weeks I started an RMA for a refund because of its unacceptable tracking.  I came close to getting this ok but at the last minute I changed my mind and decided to trust what Vive support told me about this all being fixed soon.  Obviously this has not happened and I’m very disappointed.

The only Vive saving grace for me was I ended up buying a Vive Pro full kit late last year and I could not be happier with it.  It cost me almost aud$2,000 but for me it has been worth every penny (not that we have pennies in OZ anymore, lol!).  The other saving grace is that I have the financial resources to be able to afford to have done all this.

As far as my Cosmos goes, I really don’t know what to do with it.  For now it’s pretty close to going to the tip, lol!  I may end up donating to a mate to use with his racing sims.

It will be interesting to see how HTC ends up weathering this Cosmos storm.

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I hadn't used mine in a while and went back to it recently. I must admit I'm having a lot of fun and it does seem to have improved a lot but I think it's only because it's my only exposure to VR and I have learned to compensate for the poor performance of the cosmos. It still lets me down quite often but at least the controllers recover tracking a lot quicker now..

Seeing this explains so much and makes me so damn sad. How can the performance be so poor when so many other inside out can do so much better. What an expensive dud, I only hope they keep supporting it long enough that I can get enough hours to justify the cost.

Certainly won't be doubling down on the faceplate, lighthouses and controls from HTC now just to bring my cosmos up to minimum performance standards, I'll just go all in on Index when they finally become available here (in Aus too).

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 8/6/2020 at 7:13 AM, 993142080@qq.com said:

Object tracking is essential for a fully immersive virtual reality experience. In order to support interaction in the virtual space, the system needs to determine the location of the headset and peripherals, so as to realistically depict the virtual world. It can be said that tracking accuracy is an important puzzle for the persuasiveness and immersion of virtual reality.

A few days ago, the German organization Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) released a head-mounted display tracking system measurement report called "Head-Mounted Displays: Messung räumlicher Präzision bei VR-Trackingsystemen".

22494e4ac513c66eff7a4d37f6be588e.png

Virtual Dimension Center (VDC) is Germany's leading virtual engineering and virtual reality network organization. Since 2002, VDC, which includes members such as research institutions, technology suppliers, and service providers, has been cooperating on topics such as simulation, visualization, computer-aided engineering, and virtual reality.

For this experiment, the researchers attached the device to the robot arm and moved the virtual reality controller between two points 500 mm apart. The tracking performance of position 1 and position 2 will be measured by dedicated software and tools, and the results will be presented in the form of tables and graphs, including maximum deviation, average value and standard deviation.

b27d6336c5c7bb77754a3dfd8dd3cb19.png

As shown in the figure, at position 1 where the controller is closer to the VR headset, SteamVR Tracking (outward-inward tracking) is the most accurate tracking system, with a deviation between 084 and 0205 mm. Oculus Rift S (inside-out tracking), Oculus Quest (inside-out tracking) and WMR (inside-out tracking) are close to standard deviations. The error of Vive Cosmos is obviously higher: the deviation of more than 2 to 3 mm per axis is significantly higher than the average.

It should be noted that ART's ultra-precision tracking system is designed for professional application scenarios and is not sold to ordinary users. We can see that the deviation of this outward-inward tracking system is less than 0.1 mm.

95db9111000e9b0b3d25d8a6f9ad960a.png

For position 2 where the controller is farther away from the VR headset, the accuracy of the inside-out tracking system is significantly lower than that of the outside-in tracking.

According to the measurement results, the tracking system accuracy of Oculus Rift S is lower than that of Oculus Quest. This is a bit surprising, because the PC provides more computing performance, and Rift S is equipped with an additional tracking camera.
The researchers pointed out that there are significant differences in the accuracy of each tracking system: ART and SteamVR Tracking have sub-millimeter accuracy and are suitable for areas that require high-precision tracking, such as design, 3D modeling, medical technology and simulation.

However, since there is no need to install external sensors indoors, the use of inside-out tracking is more flexible. The research report stated that systems such as Quest have sufficient accuracy in collaborative applications and are suitable for use cases such as communication, meetings, training, and product demonstrations.

When were these tests done?

I've found things have got MUCH better in recent months. There have been MANY updates. Admittedly I've not used other systems yet (I will be, very soon!) but have definitely found things getting better, including when tracking is lost, corrections are often made now - for ex in B Saber, i'll SEE that tracking is freaking and my saber missing the block, but I don't lose the point - something which never happened when I first used Cosmos.

Should these be recent tests then they are VERY disappointing and will most likely see me ask for my  money back. Like others are saying, why can oculus get inside out tracking working and HTC cannot - a year after the product has been released. Why has no other option, like an additional camera on the PC, been offered?

HTC - what happened when you were testing these devices before release? What are you going to do? Very few of us will pay more than we paid already to upgrade to the Elite with outside-in tracking.

Soon I will look into reporting this product to my local government consumer protection office if something doesn't give.

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haha. The result is expected. Totally misleading marketing practise of HTC and cheat customer in the first hand. 

I owned my rift s and sold it to buy Cosmos just to have better resolution. Guess what ? It is faulty product and It is my most stupid decision so far.

Edited by lam0218
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On 8/21/2020 at 7:54 AM, CrakeJ said:

When were these tests done?

I've found things have got MUCH better in recent months. There have been MANY updates. Admittedly I've not used other systems yet (I will be, very soon!) but have definitely found things getting better, including when tracking is lost, corrections are often made now - for ex in B Saber, i'll SEE that tracking is freaking and my saber missing the block, but I don't lose the point - something which never happened when I first used Cosmos.

Should these be recent tests then they are VERY disappointing and will most likely see me ask for my  money back. Like others are saying, why can oculus get inside out tracking working and HTC cannot - a year after the product has been released. Why has no other option, like an additional camera on the PC, been offered?

HTC - what happened when you were testing these devices before release? What are you going to do? Very few of us will pay more than we paid already to upgrade to the Elite with outside-in tracking.

Soon I will look into reporting this product to my local government consumer protection office if something doesn't give.

As I always said, VR is a small segment of gaming industry and HTC Cosmos is a little portion of all VR headset and the user base is small. 

If it is Apple iPhone, guess what ? There will have lawsuit and we got recall program and get back our money.

Edited by lam0218
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I'm impressed that @C.T.never speaks about this, always with updates that don't change anything about the main VR problem (tracking)

HTC of all the companies I have ever bought a product from, you are the worst, not only for launching a defective product, but for not admitting the shit they designed.

Congratulations, if you want to be the worst VR company, you win 🙂

It will complete 2 months without an update, and I am sure that when the update is released, nothing will change in the tracking, A totally incompetent company, where your product will make 1 year of launch and still has not managed to solve the problem.

It's been a long time since I posted on the forum because I was waiting for a new update to see if there would be any improvement, but as the update didn't arrive, I'm here to express not only my indignation but that of all the consumers of this shitty product.

Have a hint of professionalism, put the whole team to fix this shit or make a note of clarification explaining that this garbage dont have fix and make a worldwide recall.

1 year of product, 2 months without beta update ... thx for nothing _l_

with love: angry customer ❤️

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