LookPilot is an app that provides head and eye tracking for games, using nothing but your webcam and it looks pretty slick with a new Steam release. It even has Linux support right out of the box and there's a demo available to see if it works for you before buying it.
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Highlights:
- 6DoF Tracking: Head yaw, pitch, roll, plus forward/back, left/right, up/down translation.
- Head + Eye Blend: Combine head and eye rotation with adjustable influence to match your preference.
- High-Rate Output: Responsive output at high refresh rates for smooth camera control—even from low-FPS webcams.
- Quick Start: Install → Start tracking → Launch the game. Most titles work instantly; some need a one-time in-game toggle.
- Low Overhead: Runs on CPU—no dedicated hardware or GPU required.
- Cross-Platform: Windows and Linux support, including titles launched through Wine.
- Wide Compatibility: Works with 700+ games via standard head-tracking interfaces.
- Keybinds: Recenter, toggle tracking, and switch presets on the fly.
Since it's on the newer side, there's not many guides for games up on this yet, and especially so for the Linux side with most guides missing - but nice to see it release to give Linux gamers more options like it.
Check it out on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
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Pinguino 2 days ago
Super excited over this, but it sounds too good to be true. Can anyone confirm it's that dum-dum proof, at least for ETS2? No in-game setup required?
1 Likes
Eike 2 days ago
That does sound interesting.
Only...
... sounds to me like "All your super-duper GPU circuits will remain unused, we're hogging the CPU instead!"
Only...
Low Overhead: Runs on CPU—no dedicated hardware or GPU required.
... sounds to me like "All your super-duper GPU circuits will remain unused, we're hogging the CPU instead!"
1 Likes
tfk 2 days ago
I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. I like to tinker with these kinds of tech. Just like lossless scaling.
Let's see what it can do.
Let's see what it can do.
1 Likes
hardpenguin 2 days ago
To be fair, this Euro Truck Simulator 2 proof of concept is all I need 😄
... sounds to me like "All your super-duper GPU circuits will remain unused, we're hogging the CPU instead!"But it says LOW overhead so I assume the strain on CPU is rather small 😉
0 Likes
Linas 2 days ago
I have played around with eViacam (https://eviacam.crea-si.com/index.php) and Euro Truck Simulator 2 back in the day. It did work pretty well, because it simply simulates mouse input. Unfortunately did not get to try it for a longer period of time, because my main gaming setup did not have a webcam.
0 Likes
tuubi 2 days ago
I'm not sure I'd care enough to pay for this, but I might give the demo a try. I should have an old webcam somewhere. If not, I should be able to use a DSLR as a substitute.
It would be cool to see an open source implementation, seeing as there's a lot of code available for eye and face tracking already. Nothing gaming-focused though, as far as I know. Maybe a well designed library with a suitable license so that game and engine devs could integrate the functionality directly, with the reference implementation working a bit like this app, as an external provider with a configuration UI.
It would be cool to see an open source implementation, seeing as there's a lot of code available for eye and face tracking already. Nothing gaming-focused though, as far as I know. Maybe a well designed library with a suitable license so that game and engine devs could integrate the functionality directly, with the reference implementation working a bit like this app, as an external provider with a configuration UI.
2 Likes
Leahi84 2 days ago
I have a TrackIR so this isn't something I'm interested in. Headtracking is a must for flight and racing Sims IMO. I can see why something like this would be popular as it's more affordable than something like TrackIR, which is hardware based and costs over $100 dollars. I wouldn't choose to use this over TrackIR ever. But glad for people unable, or unwilling to pay for one.
0 Likes
elmapul 2 days ago
in theory this is super cool, but in pratice you cant look to the side that much as show in the video and still look at the screen, unless you have VR, but at that point, you already have a head tracker and will need an vr with internal camera pointing at your eyes to use the eye tracker.
1 Likes
elmapul 2 days ago
im curious to see how good this is for content production, (mmd, blender and tools to be a virtual youtuber in general)
0 Likes
Thibug 2 days ago
Gave the demo a try with DCS World non steam edition. The setup for non steam game is not clearly documented but you basically just need to give the proton directory path and the prefix path and it should just work.
It's working quite well and I like the eye tracking that can allow a more precise positioning.
It didn't work well with me being far from the webcam so not sure if it would work on a TV while being seated in a simracing rig, but so far I'm considering buying it
It's working quite well and I like the eye tracking that can allow a more precise positioning.
It didn't work well with me being far from the webcam so not sure if it would work on a TV while being seated in a simracing rig, but so far I'm considering buying it
0 Likes
Vigil 2 days ago
Requires SystemD, so this is a non-starter. A shame. I almost got my TrackIR working. OpenTrack detects it and the test shape does move with my head, but not in any coherent manner at all :(
0 Likes
Phlebiac a day ago
you cant look to the side that much ... and still look at the screen
Right; the tech is cool, but I don't see the point. Maybe I just don't see the relevant use cases.
0 Likes
scaine a day ago
I had a mate who used a cap he'd wear that had a sensor that allowed this kind of head movement tracking. Not sure if it was TrackIR, but I was super sceptical until I saw him use it. The head movements are quite subtle in reality, but are slightly exaggerated in-game, so you get a really nice way to look around the cockpit of the car/plane very naturally without going full-VR.
I still think my short time in Project Cars 2 VR was one of the best experiences that showed me that a game can be good but not great on 2D, but absolutely exceptional in VR. Elite:Dangerous was another - I played 30 hours in 2D and was "meh, okay", but then played in VR and spent a further 220 hours exploring planets. There's nothing to DO in Elite:Dangerous, so why spend 220 hours in that game?? Because head tracking in cockpit games is AWESOME.
So this is a pretty exciting project, I'd say, given that most folk will have a webcam lying around post-lockdown. And it costs less than a tenner!
I still think my short time in Project Cars 2 VR was one of the best experiences that showed me that a game can be good but not great on 2D, but absolutely exceptional in VR. Elite:Dangerous was another - I played 30 hours in 2D and was "meh, okay", but then played in VR and spent a further 220 hours exploring planets. There's nothing to DO in Elite:Dangerous, so why spend 220 hours in that game?? Because head tracking in cockpit games is AWESOME.
So this is a pretty exciting project, I'd say, given that most folk will have a webcam lying around post-lockdown. And it costs less than a tenner!
1 Likes
Ehvis 10 hours ago
I use OpenTrack with the IR-led-cap I made myself. It really does improve games like ETS2 and flight sims a lot. You should not see it as a free look option in the same way you would use VR, but more as a hands-off motion controller. ETS2 was set up such that having my head turned to the left edge of my monitor made the game look backward out of the window and the right edge would give me about 90 degrees. It makes playing these sort of games a much nicer experience.
Even processing the filtered IR view is pretty heavy though, so I can't imagine that this software is as "low overhead" as they claim. Good thing was that OpenTrack could output to UDP so I could do the processing on my secondary computer while the game machine only had to forward the UDP stuff to an evdev device. These days it's not so bad though since you'll likely have a core or two to spare.
This does look interesting though. Not needing an IR cap is definitely a plus. However, I tend to often play games in a fairly low light environment, so I wonder how well it would actually work.
Even processing the filtered IR view is pretty heavy though, so I can't imagine that this software is as "low overhead" as they claim. Good thing was that OpenTrack could output to UDP so I could do the processing on my secondary computer while the game machine only had to forward the UDP stuff to an evdev device. These days it's not so bad though since you'll likely have a core or two to spare.
This does look interesting though. Not needing an IR cap is definitely a plus. However, I tend to often play games in a fairly low light environment, so I wonder how well it would actually work.
1 Likes
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