Full body tracking in VR applications involves attaching sensors to one’s body, and [Jaki] has a DIY method to do it on the cheap: the Vive Tracker Lite project repurposes Vive controllers as lighthouse-based trackers, no hardware modifications required.
A common method of doing body tracking is to strap on some Vive trackers. Those are extremely hacker-friendly pieces of hardware, but [Jaki] observed that older Vive VR controllers can be had for cheap, and already contain everything a tracker needs. Some new firmware and a custom mount is all it takes to turn them into perfectly usable body trackers.
But what about a wireless receiver? [Jaki] has that covered as well with the $5 Viva Dongle, which uses a Pro Micro NRF52840 to act as a cheap DIY alternative to the official dongle hardware.
We appreciate the effort put into making this project accessible to everyone, even novices. [Jaki]’s put effort into a Python program with a full GUI to make the flashing of firmware as easy as possible for both projects. Experimenting with body tracking in VRChat or games with mods is just some recycled hardware away.
Granted, a Vive controller is not the slimmest piece of hardware, but all it takes is a firmware change and a 3D-printed fixture to make a perfectly serviceable tracker. That being said, we’re sure an enterprising hardware hacker may crack a controller open and embark on a serious rebuild, or even interface to some of the inputs in a clever way. If you’ve done that or know of someone who has, drop us a note on our tips line because we’d love to see it.
Hmm, I have some Vive Controllers lying around…
I’m here if you ever need help if you decide to do this project! :D
I wonder if the cheap WII Nunchuck copies that were floating around a few years ago would also be worth investigating… Hmmm.
They both use infrared so I dont see why not. The only thing I would worry about is the polling rate of the Nunchucks. As in your movements may be laggy if its polling rate is low.
Nunchuks don’t have any absolute tracking ability. They’re just an outdated 3-axis accelerometer, a joystick, and a couple of buttons connected to an MCU that speaks i2c.
when pointed at a pair of ir points it has absolute tracking
Wii remotes (but not nunchucks) will have absolute tracking when pointed at four LEDs. With two LEDs, it would be possible to get absolute tracking using the LEDs and a really good accelerometer ( see my paper on this: https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.17997 ) but in practice I have found that the precision in the Wii remote accelerometer is insufficient for the two LED + accel method.
And the four LEDs need to be arranged so that no three are on one line.
I would be intrigued to know if you can cut them down, remove unnecessary bulk.
Like the Wii mods.
looking at a teardown, i imagine it would only need recasing them would work. they are already separate boards. care with the ribbon.
Unfortunately I have tried this and it’s not really viable. The ribbon cable is too short, so it would require a new longer ribbon cable to allow the circuit board to tuck under the tracking ring. I’m certain that it’s possible, but I wanted this project to be doable by anybody with a 3D printer.