WearTrack: a self-referenced head and hand tracker for wearable computers and portable VR

This paper presents a new tracking technique which is essentially "sourceless" in that it can be used anywhere with no set-up, yet it enables a much wider range of virtual environment-style navigation and interaction techniques than does a simple head-orientation tracker. The new system is based on the very simple idea of combining a sourceless head orientation tracker with a head-worn tracking device that tracks a hand-mounted 3D beacon relative to the head. Because the seen graphical representation of the pointer accurately matches the felt hand position despite any errors in the orientation tracker, the system encourages use of intuitive interaction techniques which exploit proprioception. We describe a prototype of the tracking system, and discuss and demonstrate its application in a portable VR system and in a wearable computer user interface.