Full body tracking (FBT) allows you to use your entire body in virtual reality games. In this guide, we’ll go over all the body tracking options available to buy right now!
There is a lot of confusion around body tracking for VR because a lot of solutions aren’t fully available yet. We’ll show you which options are available today.
Ready to learn? Let’s roll!
What is Full Body Tracking in VR?
Traditionally, VR headsets only track the position of the head and the hands with the controllers. Full body tracking enables a much more accurate experience.
FBT solutions come with additional sensors that placed on your body to make VR games more realistic. The solutions track things like movement, kicking, rotation of the body, and arm accuracy.
Pros of VR Full Body Tracking
There are several advantages that full body tracking offers for virtual reality:
Increases Sense of Presence
FBT suits enable you to use your entire body in the virtual environment. Games today do a good job of tracking head and hand movement. But feet movement can feel fake and artificial. Body sensors on your feet can track walking movement in games.
Likewide, sensors on your elbows and knees can increase the accuracy of using weapons, playing sports, and more. This increased presence leads to better immersion.
You Can Use Your Full Body
Without VR full body tracking solutions, you can only track traditional head and movement. You won’t be able to track things like movement, kicking, rotation of the body, and arm accuracy.
For instance, you can’t play soccer very accurately in VR without a better tracking solution.
There Is Less Motion Sickness
Full body solutions will let you walk nausea-free without experiencing motion sickness. Your vestibule system will signal your brain that you are walking and your eyes will see that you are in motion.
The Best Full Body Tracking Solutions You Can Buy Today
#1. bHaptics Tactsuit Full
For those of you who want a full solution, the bHaptics Tactsuit is a Wi-Fi-powered wearable device that gives VR enthusiasts full body tracking while in place. It consists of a few different pieces:
- Tactosy arm sensors
- Tactot vest
- hand and feet fits
- a mask that is attached to your HMD display
The suit is completely wireless and you can enjoy freedom without wires. In November, 2020, bHaptics announced updated tact vests called the X40 and X16. The X40 contains 40 different sensors for tracking and haptics and the X16 contains 16 sensors.
The bHaptics Tactsuit gives vibrating feedback. If you are playing a first-person shooter game, you will immediately feel where shot are coming from if your enemy shoots you. This makes you respond more accurately since you can feel the direction your enemy is firing from.
The suit is heavy-duty and long-lasting battery life. According to bHaptic, it can serve you for more than 15 hours. What’s more? It is compatible with a wide range of VR headsets including the Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, Pimax, and any HTC Vive.
It was released in 2017 and the price of the ‘Prodigy’ version stands at $2,750.
Pros
- The solution offers 87 feedback points
- It is extremely lightweight
- Not cumbersome to operate
- There is no delay between the haptic feed and the game
- Can be shared with friends or family members
Cons
- It can get sweaty after a short gaming session
- The price may discourage newbies
#2. Vive Trackers with Rebuff Reality Belt and Straps
Another VR FBT solution to give serious consideration is the Vive Trackers with Rebuff Reality Belt and straps. The Vive Tracker is a general tracking device that developers can integrate into their VR games. You can buy as many trackers as you’d like for your body.
The Rebuff Reality belt and straps let you attach these trackers onto your body and use them for more accuracy. You can track movement, kicking, and rotation of your body when you combine the two pieces together.
This solution might be the cheapest way to achieve full body tracking in VR. The price of the Rebuff Reality set on Amazon is $69.99. The Vive Trackers go for $100. each. Even better, a number of games have integrated Vive tracker support already.
This combination is perfect for extended bouts in the VR world. The Vive Trackers were launched on March 17, 2017
Pros
- The suit takes your whole body into account for movement
- Foot movement is possible
- The battery is durable
- The price is affordable
Cons
- The Vive Trackers alone cannot provide full body tracking.
#3. Teslasuit
Teslasuit is one of the best VR full body tracking solutions money can buy. It is designed by a London-based company to integrate a player’s whole body into the gaming experience.
The Teslasuit doesn’t use vibrating motors to stimulate touch sensations like other haptic suits. Instead, it delivers electrical simulations to the player’s whole body.
The suit is designed to be in contact with your skin directly instead of your clothes. This way, you can receive effective electrical feedback. You need to calibrate the device before using it.
The Teslasuit was released in January 2020 and the price tag is currently $1,500 on the official website.
Pros
- It uses cutting edge technology
- You will experience leg action like kicking and running
- This suit is flexible
Cons
- It is pricey for the average VR gamers
- You must remove your outfit before game play
- It is not easily shareable
Other Solutions
There are many FBT solutions that are not yet available for general purchase. However, they provide a glimpse at some exciting full body solutions in the future.
Below, we preview some other FBT solutions we are keeping a watch on for the future.
#1. HaptX VR Gloves
HaptX VR Gloves use haptic technology to deliver precise motion tracking, force feedback, and realistic touch. It is lightweight and has up to 130 points of feedback with no perceived latency.
With this suit, you can manipulate your hands with unparalleled accuracy. What’s more? It is integrated with motion capture to enable users to track 6 degrees of freedom. It also allows for occlusion-free interaction.
If you are looking for an intuitive full body tracking VR solution for your game play, HaptX VR Gloves are a great solution.
#2. Manus Polygon
The Manus Polygon suit uses inverse kinematics to enable tracking within a virtual environment. Once it is powered, it generates an accurately proportioned virtual human skeleton. It seamlessly re-targets and synchronizes the users’ motion to the bones of the chosen avatar.
Manus Polygon is capable of detecting even the smallest nuances in body motion. It doesn’t rely on a motion-capture suit like other VR full body tracking solutions on the market. When worn correctly, it can track movement, kicking, and rotation of your body.
What VR Games Support Full Body Tracking?
Below are some VR games that support full body tracking:
- Duck Season
- Eleven:Table Tennis VR
- Final Soccer VR
- SelfieTennis
- Arizona Sunshine
- Climbey
- Holodance
- Island 359
- Left-Hand Path
- First Person Tennis
- Goalie VR
- High Fidelity
- Practisim VR
- Redfoot Bluefoot Dancing
- Richie’s Plank Experience
- Operation Warcade
- Paddle Up
- Pitch Hit: Baseball
For the most part, VR developers have to add full body support into their games in order to work properly. Both Unreal Engine and Unity support the feature in their game engines.
Once you sync your suit to your game, it should accurately track your movements nicely.
If you own any full body tracking VR suit, comment below and let us know how it works!
