Preparation: Kinect device, adapter and drivers.
Kinect is a great alternative for Vive Trackers. It is assumed here that you already have existing VR setup like Oculus, HTC Vive, HTC Cosmos, Valce Index or HP Reverb. Kinect will be used to emulate hip and leg trackers.
For Kinect 360 for Xbox and Kinect 2.0 you need to purchase an adapter to PC. There is also Kinect 360 to PC that has already USB connection and an adapter is not required.
For Kinect One you need USB 3.0 while for Kinect 360 you need USB 2.0.
Optimal placement for Kinect 360 starts at 6 feet (1.8 m) from the floor. For Kinect One, device can be located as close as 5 feet (1.6 m). Remember to adjust angle to ensure your whole body is visible by camera. When located at 6 feet (1.8 m) I set angle to -16 degrees.
Install Kinect Drivers from Microsoft website:
- Kinect 360 – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40278
Kinect One – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=44559
Once you connect the device and install drivers, you are ready to set this up!
Initial configuration
- On Tracking page in Driver4VR window select Kinect: Skeleton. Ensure you have Head tracking and Hand tracking turned OFF.
- Press Start on Driver4VR window. Now your device will be detected and tracking will start. Kinect should run about 30FPS. Driver4VR is running on higher frequency – 60FPS – to interpolate frames what makes tracking more smooth.
Calibration of Kinect and your VR setup
There are three ways to calibrate Kinect and your VR Setup.
- 5 point calibration – very first method, not practical but you can use it as an alternative – video tutorial.
- Manual calibration – useful when you want manually tweak the position of trackers or other methods that don’t work as expected – video tutorial.
- Manual calibration for small room – video tutorial.
- 2 step calibration – the fast recommended method – video tutorial.
You can refer to the video tutorial for each method. I will describe here 2 step calibration with more details.
- Press Calibrate next to Body Tracking selection and then select New – 2 Steps.
- Very important: Before you put headset on, walk around your gameplay area and ensure that Kinect can track you properly.
- Now put your headset on and Click Calibrate Button. The window will pop-up with graphic that shows how it should be performed. You can turn on Desktop preview in SteamVR Overlay to see what happens.
- Now stay in the center of playspace (validated in step 2) and put your hands to the sides. Wait for confirmation signal – applause.
- Then take small step forward or backward and wait for second step to be completed – applause.