Possible new interface - beta test it!

[lanman31337]

Received this e-mail today:

Hello Jeffrey!

We here at CamSpace are expanding our closed-BETA program, and we’d like to invite you to join us.

CamSpace is a small, downloadable program that enables you to play any game you want using your webcam! Use almost any brightly-colored object as a game controller, and connect it to your favorite game.

But CamSpace is much more than gaming. It’s a fully-featured object tracking platform, and it allows you to create applications that utilize these capabilities.

We chose to include you in our exclusive closed BETA program because we feel you will contribute to the CamSpace Community.

Start by installing CamSpace: http://www.camspace.com/download_installation.php

After the installation, you will need a serial key, which is available here: http://www.camspace.com/GetSerialKey.php

 

We encourage you to use this platform to create new and exciting applications, connect CamSpace to your favorite games, and help us build the CamSpace Community!

In addition to the robust scripting tool that comes built-in with CamSpace, you can now connect CamSpace directly into your C++, C#, VB or .NET application using the CamTraxAPI extension.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated at beta@cam-trax.com

 

Thanks again for your support and interest in CamSpace,

The CamSpace Team

This would make an awesome interface.  Questions/comments/concerns, post them up.

[lanman31337]

Crap, i guess the hardware fingerprint is tied to your email address.  Looks like someone tried it, and it sent me an e-mail with the information.  I'm going to drop them an e-mail, see if there can be a generic version that we can try.

[lanman31337]

I just talked to the gentleman who's creating the software.  If you're interested, please put your e-mail address in here. 

I don't know if I explained how the software works, but basically, it uses a webcam as a positioning device.  This can be used as a mouse, and probably as a lightgun (hint hint).

[brock.sampson]

I'm in brock.sampson(at)cox.net

[lanman31337]

I have a feeling this could be thee wireless lightgun solution we're looking for.  If this is the case, then you could use just about anything as a lightgun, since it's using a webcam to get the x,y coordinates, and you won't have to stand 20 feet back!!!

[wbassett]

I'm on the beta tester email list too and got this email as well.  Very interesting indeed!

Just keep in mind this would be the pointer function and we'd still need a trigger button either wired or from a hacked Gyration Air Mouse or something like that... but yes there are lots of good sounding potential options popping up all over lately!

The RGT G1 uses similar technology and the reviews are a bit 'hit or miss' (pun intended )  Some reviews say the accuracy is okay but only acceptable at best.  One thing I try to keep in mind is it's also newer tech and new ways of doing things so there are bound to be some bugs at first.  My only hope is that it doesn't take a couple years to work the kinks out like some new guns have been like.

It's starting to look like by the end of the year we just may have at least one very good light gun option, and hopefully a couple!  I personally feel competition can be a good thing.  It keeps companies sharp and forces them to improve their products while at the same time helps bring prices down.

Some exciting times and news for sure!

[headkaze]

I'm interested in checking this out, my e-mail is headkaze [at] gmail.com

[nukedawg]

I am also part of the beta test of the software although I installed it last night I have only had the chance to test it all of about 15 minutes before I was out the door for the holiday this weekend. Unfortunately I won't get back until Sunday. But it looks very promising. I look forward to the testing and other beta testers and their experiences.


Oh and even though the fingerprint is tied to your hardware and your email address, I read in the EULA (wow it was the first one I actually read thru till the end lol) and it said something about being able to install on up to 3 PCs. But don't quote me on that _ Dont understand how thats possible since it seems to generate the fingerprint based on hardware in your system....

[Singapura]

Sign me up! send2erik(at]gmail.com

[lanman31337]

Those of you who have sent your information (extremely smart move not to put it in properly) but expect an e-mail from cam-trax.

[Ummon]

This sounds like that one someone posted a month or so back where it tracks objects including your fingers for trigger motions.

[mhermann]

I'm interested in checking this out, my e-mail is mjhermann [at] hotmail.com

And I agree with wbassett. We are going to get rid of our light gun woes this year.

[wbassett]

If we keep going with all these light gun threads Saint may have to break this off into its own light gun development sub thread lol.

Okay anyway...  there may be a whole lot more to this than a lot of us first thought.
http://www.cabelas.com/hprod-1/0022706.shtml

This beta software will get us half way there, as in possibly work as a pointing and tracking device.  Next we'd need a way to fire shots with a trigger button.  This would definitely take some playing around with different things to use.   It seems like any game pad or USB joystick recognized device would work after being hacked.  There are plenty of realtively cheap game pads out there and even wireless ones.  The question is though do they work with Mame?

I'm not sure about this so don't quote me on it, but I think the better resolution the camera is, the better the tracking and accuracy will be. 

Some more questions will be if this software will track within Mame, and can two 'guns' be used?  We now know the WaveIt seems to be pretty accurate and tracks well, but the buttons aren't recognized in Mame.  I thought the Wii mote supported two guns, and it does with GlovePie, but again I'm being told not within Mame. 

I have been having some offline discussions with someone about the Wii mote and Mame and it seems that you need GlovePie and PPJoy to get it fully working.  (Maybe PPJoy will solve the WaveIt button problem?!)

Darwin and Stix are also being tossed around as possible contenders, but we really don't know enough about them to know how they work right now, and nobody (not even the company) really knows how much the Stix 200 will cost, and the Darwin is supposed to be around $100, a bit much if you ask me to hack and find out it won't do what we want.

So right now it doesn't look like we have an easy one step solution that is a Windows driver that's recognized as an HID and is totally plug and play.    I have a spare video camcorder laying around, if I have time and don't get called for work this weekend I'll play around with it some with the beta software.  In the meantime, can anyone provide a list of known game pads (preferably wireless) that work within Mame? 

We'll get something working as a light gun soon I think, but I also think we have to keep the price down to something reasonable too.  If it costs twice as much as a TopGun or single ActLabs gun setup and isn't any more accurate or easier to setup, then it's not worth the effort in my opinion.  It has to be easier, cheaper (or around the same price) and most importantly- better!

If Cabela's site is for real and it isn't just a marketing gimick and hype, this type of tech is supposedly what the military and police use in their high tech simulators.  All I ever got to play with was military style 'laser tag' guns for combat simulation, but that was pretty cool!  Anyway, seems like this might be better than some of the other methods we're looking into but could also be pretty expensive by the time you add the expense of a decent video camera and then a controller for a trigger and other buttons, and don't forget the gun shell it will need to go into! 

[vertygo]

I'm already a beta tester for this, and I must admit my crappy cam didn't work very well, so I'll be upgrading shortly. However, when it did work, I tracked my wireless mouse and used those buttons for clicking, and it worked, was just awkward. Therefore, hacking the mouse parts into a decent gun case might work.

[lanman31337]

Everyone who has asked should be receiving an email.

I asked Yaron (he's the guy I've been in contact with) a few questions for some solutions.

So a few questions on the software/hardware.  If we use a higher resolution video camera, the tracking will be more accurate and stable vs a cheap 5 dollar webcam with lower resolution?

We're all testing it and have some great ideas for light guns for it.  It tracks well, and if we use a usb mouse, we get our mouse clicks.  Through Windows, the driver, is it a HID mouse or something along the lines?  The lightgun solution i'm using comes with drivers that makes the device think it's a HID mouse, and uses light bars on the sides.  It works, but accuracy isn't at the top, and you have to stand pretty far away to get it to register properly.  Any possibility of the software tracking two objects at once?  Reason for two objects is dual guns and possibly three for some games in MAME. 

Thanks again for working on this, and thanks beforehand for answering the questions.

[lanman31337]

The answer to all these questions is YES.

Go to the mouse emulation settings, and play around with it use absolute
positioning or game mode as needed.
Of course you can track 2 objects at the same time. You can configure this
from the main "edit emulation" screen.

I suggest you go to the "Edit Script" screen and play around with it.
There's a help button that will take you to our documentation.


Hope this works out,
Yaron.

[wbassett]

I ended up working most of the weekend so I didn't have a chance to test yet.

I found a very very nice little toy for $20 from Walmart.  It's a Philips Wireless PC Controller, SGC2910BB/27 (bit of a long product identifier ) that looks like a PS2/PS3 style controller.  It has rumble force feed back, and both analog and digital modes.  Nothing really spectacular yet other than being RF wireless...  Here's why I bought it...

It allows you to emulate a keyboard or a mouse!  It has 18 programable buttons that you can assign to any keyboard key or set it to control the mouse cursor. 

Setup was extremely straight forward, first you plug in the USB RF receiver (for Windows 98 and ME you must install the software first and then plug in the RF receiver) and then insert the CD and follow the on screen instructions.

I mapped a button to the left mouse button and then made the right analog stick my mouse cursor control and fired MAME up.  The analog stick does control the cursor, and you can adjust the cursor speed within the software too, but it doesn't feel natural controlling your mouse cursor this way, at least not to me.  It did work within MAME though!  Now for what we want to try here, we don't need a cursor device persay since in this thread the goal is to see if this software and a video camera can act as our tracking system... all we need is a 'trigger'.  Well I can say when I fired up Police Trainer, although the SGC2910 sucked at controlling the cursor and felt nothing like a gun, I was able to fire shots and even as horrible as it is at trying to move the cursor to the target, I was able to hit some targets!  The mouse button emulation definitely works!

Also the other keyboard assigned buttons are recognized within MAME, or I should clarify that and say MAME32 since that's what I'm running.  I know some have stated they do not want a wireless gun, but this has me pretty excited with the mappable buttons!  (For those that don't like a wireless gun, if we get something working... just attach a wire or cord to the cab )

This thing works so well I almost feel bad about what I am going to do to it!  First things first though, now that I have a trigger mechanism as well as assignable buttons for say reloading or games that require multiple buttons for grenades and things like that,  I need to test this software and see how responsive and accurate camera based tracking is.  There are enough buttons to assign a coin drop button and game start so you don't have to step up to the cab to restart the game!  If we can track accurately with a relatively inexpensive video camera, I think we could have a viable option here.

I have no idea how big the actual board is inside the game pad.  Hopefully it's not that big and the bulk of the inside is the buttons and vibration motors.  I have a feeling it's going to be tight in there and even a bit complex, so I hope I can get this hacked and the board is small enough to fit in a gun shell.

I'm not sure when I will be able to test the cam software, but as soon as I have some test results I'll post my findings.

[ark_ader]

So please remind me again, what is wrong with the TOPGUN lightgun that works perfectly with mame and the Xbox, that I have to fiddle about with a webcam and some crap controller from walmart?

Just curious.   

I can see this guy's idea for emulation of those arcade games that require an eyetoy interface like that cool cop game I saw at Gameworks last month.

Light gun needs room and when you are blasting Zombies you need more room for your mate to help you out.  If you want to get closer use a mouse.

[wbassett]

So please remind me again, what is wrong with the TOPGUN lightgun that works perfectly with mame and the Xbox, that I have to fiddle about with a webcam and some crap controller from walmart?

I can't speak for the new Topgun because I don't have one, but I do have one of the original guns and it definitely has some issues.  I see some people still having some issues even with the new guns.

This is just looking for alternatives is all. 

Just curious.   

I can see this guy's idea for emulation of those arcade games that require an eyetoy interface like that cool cop game I saw at Gameworks last month.

Light gun needs room and when you are blasting Zombies you need more room for your mate to help you out.  If you want to get closer use a mouse.

It's not totally a 'closer issue', at least not with me.  My gun showed up broke, which was a royal pain when I was trying to set it up.  With all the known driver issues and problems people were having just getting it installed, I figured that was the problem.  Once I fixed the broken wire in the one LED stand,  then I still had the problems everyone else was having.  Finally I got it working, but the accuracy depends on your exact distance, as well as where I'm shooting on the screen.

For those that love the Topgun, great, I'm glad you like it and I wish I had the same performance.  Right now I am a bit leery about spending more money on a 'new' TopGun after jumping through so many hoops with this one.  That's just my opinion and preference... 

As far as this thread though, it's just some neat tech to play around with.  It's also very similar to what law enforcement and the military uses, so when the kinks are worked out this could be extremely reliable and accurate.

[vanrush]

please  Sign me up! vanrush(at)gmail.com

 I'm crazy to see this works

Thanks a lot

[lanman31337]

What's everyone's feedback on this, those who have used it?  My wife's had some health issues lately and I haven't had a chance to play with it at all.

[headkaze]

I keep getting hardware codes in the mail but haven't had a chance to install and check it out yet.

Does the serial expire or something? Is that why I keep getting a new key? Should I install it now before it expires again?

[ark_ader]

What's everyone's feedback on this, those who have used it?  My wife's had some health issues lately and I haven't had a chance to play with it at all.

Does the review extend to the UK?