Look Pilot

[tattywelshie]

Anyone use Look Pilot? Started using it recently, and very impressed! Takes a little while to set up, but once set up it's at least as good as Track IR, but without the need for any wearable sensor. 

[Jaeger55]

I was wondering if this was any good as a replacement for track IR5.  

[Mike2945]

I heartily recommend it - you can try for a limited time on STEAM for free.  Functionality as good as TrackIR, a fraction of the price, and no equipment but a webcam required! 

[Remontti]

I've been testing this for a while now as it would be fun not to wear an antenna on my head. I can't get same kind of precision what I have with my Grass monkey (open track).

 

It is working but it is not as good. There is usually small back and forth movement or jitter. Especially annoying in zoomed in view.

The eye tracking part sounded nice but disabling it gave me more stable view.

 

I've tried different profiles but made my own that was working best.

 

How's it working for others?

[basster]

Beam Eye Tracker vs LookPilot: My Experience in DCS World

 

Цитата

 

I decided not to stop at a first impression and spent some proper time testing two webcam-based trackers in DCS World: Beam Eye Tracker and LookPilot.

Both use a regular webcam, both can track head movement, both support 6DoF, and both can also use eye tracking.

On paper, the difference between them does not look huge.

After actually using them in DCS, though, I have a pretty clear idea of which one I prefer.

And this is not a case of one tracker working while the other is useless.

Both are good. Beam just turned out to be the better fit for me.

 

 

First of all, both are good

 

Цитата

 

If you disable Eye Tracking and use only head tracking, both trackers work very well.

LookPilot can track head position accurately, the camera movement is smooth, latency is low, and 6DoF works properly.

So if someone simply wants a good webcam head tracker, LookPilot absolutely does the job.

But once you stop looking only at whether it works and start paying attention to how the camera actually moves, the differences become more noticeable.

And that is where I started leaning toward Beam.

 

 

LookPilot: What I liked

 

Цитата

 

My first impression of LookPilot was positive.

Installation is simple, startup is simple, and getting it running in DCS does not require any major messing around.

There are ready-made profiles, so you don't have to immediately start digging through dozens of settings.

That is one of LookPilot's strong points.

Out-of-box, I would give it 10/10.

You can open the software, select a suitable profile, make a few small adjustments and start flying.

The head tracking itself is very good.

The camera follows head movement properly, the tracking is accurate, and there is no feeling that the software is constantly struggling to recognize the face.

If I were using LookPilot only for head tracking, I would say it is very close to Beam.

 

 

But I did not like the filtering as much

 

Цитата

 

This was the first major difference I noticed.

No matter how much I adjusted smoothing, the movement in LookPilot still felt a little more rigid to me.

And I want to be clear here. I am not saying the camera constantly jerks.

It doesn't.

Overall movement is smooth.

The difference is more about the character of the movement.

Small head movements feel a little sharper, especially around the deadzone.

You can increase smoothing and make it softer.

But then the camera starts to feel slightly delayed.

Reduce smoothing, and the camera becomes more responsive, but also more rigid.

So you end up looking for a compromise.

 

 

Deadzone

 

Цитата

 

The deadzone was another thing that stood out to me.

I have nothing against deadzones. They are useful because otherwise the camera can react to every tiny involuntary movement.

The problem for me was the transition out of the deadzone.

In LookPilot, that transition felt a little too sharp.

The camera stays relatively still and then starts moving more noticeably.

You can adjust the deadzone, curves and smoothing, but personally I never got the transition to feel exactly the way I wanted.

And this is one of those things that is difficult to explain with screenshots or specifications.

The numbers can look perfectly fine.

But after sitting in DCS for an hour, you can definitely feel it.

 

 

Eye Tracking became even more interesting

 

Цитата

 

Eye Tracking was actually one of the main things I wanted to test in LookPilot.

The idea itself is excellent.

Your head sets the general direction and your eyes can make additional adjustments.

For DCS, that sounds extremely useful.

You can look at the HUD, MFDs, instruments and outside the cockpit without having to make a large head movement every time.

LookPilot does support this.

But this is also where I had the most trouble.

 

 

Eye Yaw

 

Цитата

 

I managed to get the horizontal eye movement working reasonably well.

The general idea is easy to understand.

You adjust the sensitivity, tweak the input range and the eyes start affecting horizontal camera movement.

This part worked for me without too much trouble.

 

 

Eye Pitch

 

Цитата

 

Vertical eye movement was a different story.

At first I honestly thought there was no proper vertical eye control.

Eventually I found Eye Pitch and realized that the setting was there.

You can adjust sensitivity, smoothing, deadzone and the input range.

The problem was getting a useful amount of vertical camera movement without making the whole system feel unnatural.

At the default settings, the vertical range was far too small for me.

I started changing the input range, increasing the influence of the eyes and working on the curve.

That did increase the available camera movement.

But another problem appeared.

The camera started reacting too strongly to small eye movements.

And at one point I simply started getting motion sick.

I'm not exaggerating.

I actually stopped testing because it became physically uncomfortable.

 

 

Why this matters in DCS

 

Цитата

 

In a normal game, you might just ignore something like that.

DCS is different.

You constantly move your eyes around.

HUD.

MFD.

Cockpit instruments.

Outside view.

Back to the HUD.

Small movements happen all the time.

So when Eye Tracking behaves in a way your brain does not quite expect, you notice it very quickly.

That was exactly what happened to me with the vertical eye movement.

The feature is there.

The settings are there.

But I could not get it to a point where I could simply forget about the tracking and fly normally.

 

 

The most important part: LookPilot is not a bad tracker

 

Цитата

 

After reading all of this, it might sound like I think LookPilot is a poor product.

I don't.

I actually liked LookPilot.

Its head tracking is genuinely good.

It is smooth.

It is accurate.

It has a lot of settings.

It has ready-made profiles.

And it works very well with DCS.

For the price, it is a very strong product.

That is also reflected in the community. There are DCS users who praise LookPilot specifically for its smoothness, ready-made profiles and easy setup. There are also users who prefer it over other webcam-based tracking solutions.

So my experience should not be interpreted as "LookPilot is bad."

It isn't.

It is a good tracker.

 

 

Now for Beam

 

Цитата

 

After testing LookPilot, I went back to Beam and the difference became much easier to notice.

The first thing I noticed was simple:

the camera felt softer.

Even when both trackers were operating at a similar frame rate, Beam felt more consistent.

Small head movements felt smoother.

Transitions around the deadzone felt more natural.

The camera did not have that same feeling of suddenly becoming more aggressive when movement started.

For me, Beam feels better not necessarily because it is dramatically more accurate, but because the movement itself feels more natural.

 

 

Frame rate and motion

 

Цитата

 

I also tested Beam and LookPilot under similar conditions and with similar tracking frame rates.

This was another area where I preferred Beam.

Even when the reported frame rate looked good on both sides, Beam still felt smoother in the actual game.

There was less of that tiny stepped feeling during movement.

It was particularly noticeable when making fast head movements or very small corrections.

So it is not just about the number of FPS.

What matters is also how those frames are processed and how the final movement is delivered to the game.

Beam feels better to me in that regard.

 

 

Eye Tracking on Beam

 

Цитата

 

And this is where Beam clearly wins for me.

Eye movement feels much more natural.

I can separately adjust horizontal and vertical eye movement.

I can tune sensitivity and range.

And most importantly, I can get a useful result without the uncomfortable feeling I experienced with LookPilot.

That makes Eye Tracking feel like a proper additional control method rather than another feature that needs constant tweaking.

That is exactly what I wanted from eye tracking in DCS.

 

 

Settings

 

Цитата

 

There is an interesting paradox here.

LookPilot actually gives you a huge number of settings.

Beam has plenty of options too, but I prefer the way they are organized and the overall logic of the setup.

Beam feels more like one complete system.

Fewer separate windows.

Less jumping between different areas.

You open the software, make your adjustments and move on.

For me, that is a big advantage.

Because the ideal tracking system is not necessarily the one with a hundred sliders.

The ideal tracker is the one you configure once and then forget about it while flying.

 

 

Out-of-box

 

Цитата

 

I would give both trackers 10/10 here.

LookPilot has good default profiles.

Beam has good default profiles.

Both let you start flying without spending a huge amount of time in the settings.

But personally, I like Beam's default DCS profile more.

You can basically leave it alone and fly.

If you want to fine-tune it, make a few small changes and you're done.

That is a big advantage for anyone who doesn't want to spend their evening tuning tracking software.

 

 

Interface

 

Цитата

 

This is another area where I personally prefer Beam.

Not because LookPilot has a bad interface.

It doesn't.

I just find Beam more straightforward.

There are fewer unnecessary windows.

Less jumping between sections.

The main settings are presented in a more unified way.

LookPilot gives you more room for detailed manual tweaking, which can be a positive for advanced users.

For a typical DCS user, I prefer Beam's approach.

 

 

Price

 

Цитата

 

This is where LookPilot has an obvious advantage.

It is cheaper.

But after testing both, I would not say that this automatically makes it better value.

For me, the overall price-to-quality balance is roughly equal.

Both offer a lot.

Both work well.

Both don't require dedicated hardware.

Both have good default profiles.

So I would give:

Price / Quality: 10/10 for both.

Yes, Beam costs more.

But in my case, the extra money does not feel like I'm paying for unnecessary features.

I can actually feel where that extra value is coming from.

 

 

So what did I end up with?

 

Цитата

 

After all the testing, my conclusion is pretty simple.

LookPilot

A very good head tracker.

Smooth.

Accurate.

A lot of settings.

Works well in DCS.

Good ready-made profiles.

A strong option for anyone who wants webcam-based tracking.

Beam Eye Tracker

Also an excellent head tracker.

But personally, I prefer the actual feel of the camera movement.

The filtering feels better.

The deadzone feels more natural.

The motion feels smoother.

And most importantly, Eye Tracking works better for me.

 

 

My final score

Цитата

 

Category	LookPilot	Beam
Head Tracking	10/10	10/10
Smoothness	9/10	10/10
Filtering	8/10	10/10
Deadzone	8/10	10/10
Eye Tracking	8/10	10/10
Eye Pitch	8/10	10/10
Settings	10/10	10/10
Out-of-box	10/10	10/10
Interface	9/10	10/10
Price / Quality	10/10	10/10

 

My winner: Beam Eye Tracker

That does not mean I would tell people to avoid LookPilot.

Quite the opposite.

LookPilot is absolutely worth trying.

It is a very strong product and there are users who genuinely prefer it.

But after testing both in DCS, my choice is still Beam.

Yes, Beam is more expensive.

But for me, the extra cost is justified.

I get smoother filtering, more natural camera movement, better-feeling deadzones and, most importantly, eye tracking that I find much more comfortable to use.

So my conclusion is pretty simple:

LookPilot is very good. Beam just feels better in actual flight.

And for me, that is what matters most.

[pub945]

I pretty much agree with basster here, but just wanted to add a quick point. The webcam you pair with both of these apps should ideally run at 30+ FPS, though 60 FPS is definitely the sweet spot for smoother tracking.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time comparing the smoothness between the two, and honestly—at least subjectively—I couldn’t tell much of a difference. Maybe my eyes just aren't sharp enough to catch it.

Keep in mind that neither of these apps requires a high-resolution camera. Make sure to turn off auto-focus, set up decent lighting, and avoid wide-angle lenses—ideally, crop or zoom in so it’s just tracking you. That way, your system isn't wasting processing power on unnecessary background details. Also, don't forget to double-check that you've selected the matching FPS option for your camera inside the app UI!