For Immediate Release :
Contact: Warren Blyth, NaturalPoint Inc.
Phone: 541.753.6645 ext 13
email: warren@naturalpoint.com
Images: http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/07-company-info/company-media-kit.html


NaturalPoint Inc. Announces Full 3D View Control for Simulation and Gaming!
posted : Wednesday 8 December 2004
Corvallis, Ore. -

Vector Expansion™
NaturalPoint Inc. is proud to announce the breakthrough Vector Expansion for TrackIR™ 3, the best selling and critically acclaimed head tracker for gaming. Vector brings the most realistic and affordable optical tracking to gamers and simulation fans alike. Vector allows you to expand your view control to a full range of motion, from 2 Degrees (2DOF pitch/yaw), to all six degrees of freedom (6DOF). No matter how or which direction you move your head, Vector instantly captures it with extreme precision and accuracy.

Vector precisely translates all head motion into your virtual point of view - pan side to side, look around, even zoom with full 3-dimensional tracking. This ground breaking technology is made possible by combining the leading edge TrackIR 3 Standard and Pro models with the advanced head positioning tracking of the 3 tracking receptors in the Vector Expansion In total, you get the most realistic head tracking experience possible. The application specific hardware runs at a blazing 120FPS, four times faster than a standard web camera, so you'll never is a moment of action!

Our users have demanded a head tracking solution that allows them to freely move around in their cockpit and in their own chair. Vector delivers by allowing users to look around airplane or car struts and lean in their chairs without distorting the view. Vector is the future of view control.

Seeing is Believing
The best way to understand what a TrackIR is and what Vector Expansion can do for you is to see it in action. A demo video featuring MSFS2004 and CFS3 is available for download from: http://www.naturalpoint.com/trackir/products/video.html

Highlights

• FULL 6DOF is supported in MSFS2004 and CFS3 on launch, many more titles to come shortly.
• Vector works in combination with any TrackIR3 or 3 Pro
• Vector works with all TrackIR Enhanced titles, in 2D or 6D positioning
• Translation no longer causes unwanted view movement. (leaning in chair)

The response from our beta testers has been overwhelming and their comments speak for themselves:

"I have no words to describe the coolness of 6DOF. I thought I'd be prepared for it but it is incredible beyond belief and will guarantee this is going to stand the flight sim community on it's collective heads!"

"I have just tried 6DOF in FS2004 and I'm floored, I never thought it would be that COOL, I'm getting the same buzz I got when I tried my TIR 1."

"I was floored when I saw it for the first time. I was practically yelling for my wife to get in here and check it out. It is amazing."

"CFS3 really rocks now, the 6DOF in the game is awesome."

TrackIR and Vector are available from leading gaming resellers including eDimensional.com, RC Simulations, PC Aviator, Smartbytes, SimBin / Oka Racing and NaturalPoint's own online store. TrackIR 3 MSRP $119, TrackIR3 PRO MSRP $139, Vector Expansion MSRP $49.95

TrackIR Enhanced™
NaturalPoint works closely with leading developers in the gaming and simulation industry to bring TrackIR Enhanced support to the hottest titles on the market. This interface allows for direct ABSOLUTE control of the view system, unlike the RELATIVE positioning of a mouse. Vector will expand TrackIR Enhanced from 2D to 6D, Pitch / Yaw will be complemented by Roll, X, Y and Z. It isn't just our customers that are anticipating 6DOF view control, developers are also excited about what this means for the gaming community, it changes the definition of view control.

TrackIR Enhanced is included in many of the most popular flight sim, racing and online tiles today. Full 6D control is available today in Microsoft's FlightSim 2004 and Combat Flight Sim 3. Other popular 2D titles include IL-2 Pacific Fighters, GTR and Jump to Lightspeed. Many developers have committed to bring full 6D support to their titles and NaturalPoint will be announcing new titles regularly through 2005.

About NaturalPoint
Based in Corvallis, Oregon, NaturalPoint® is the creator and manufacturer of the TrackIR™ and smart-NAV™ product lines. NaturalPoint® specializes in providing innovative control solutions through optical tracking technology. NaturalPoint® has developed pointing systems for computers, video games, military simulators, and unique display systems

All Copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

NaturalPoint® (www.naturalpoint.com)

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