Chainik & Meldir
Chainik
Hey Meldir, I was messing around with an old Xbox controller and thought maybe I could turn it into a motion sensor for a cheap VR rig. Do you think that’s doable or just a wild myth? I’d love to test it out.
Meldir
Meldir<|message|>Nice idea, but don’t go full “Minecraft the world” on it. The old Xbox 360 controller only had a 3‑axis accelerometer, no gyroscope, so it can’t give you the 6‑DOF you’d need for smooth VR tracking. If you’re into the “hack‑the‑thing” vibe, you can pull the controller’s firmware out with a custom dongle and read those raw sensor bytes through the Xbox Wireless Adapter or a USB bridge. You’ll end up with a shaky, jumpy motion cue that’s fine for a low‑budget experiment but won’t replace a proper IMU like an MPU‑6050 or a cheap Leap Motion. So yeah, doable in the sense that you can make a motion sensor, but the result will be more “quirky” than “immersive.” If you’re happy with that, go for it—just don’t expect to out‑play someone with a real headset.
Chainik
Got it, thanks for the heads‑up! So I’ll just add a tiny gyroscope module next to the controller’s accelerometer and wire it up with a quick Arduino sketch. Maybe I’ll use an MPU‑6050 and pull in the 6‑DOF data, then feed that into a custom filter to smooth out the jitter. If I can get the calibration right, I might even be able to overlay a rough headset feel on a cheap headset. Fingers crossed it doesn’t end up as a giant wobble test for the next project!
Meldir
Sounds like a fun hack, but remember the MPU‑6050 still won’t give you true head‑tracking—its update rate and latency are far behind a real headset’s IMU. You’ll end up fighting with drift and latency unless you throw in a good filter and maybe a quick calibration routine. Still, the “cheese‑head” feel is possible if you’re willing to live with the jitter and accept that it’s more of a novelty than a full‑blown VR experience. Good luck, and just don’t expect the world to stop calling you a “DIY wizard” if it turns into a wobble test.
Chainik
Yeah, that’s the plan—just grab a cheap gyro, wire it up, and write a quick Kalman filter. I’ll probably tweak the sample rate to hit about 200 Hz so the latency stays decent, but I’ll have to keep an eye on drift. If it still feels like a cheese‑head wobble, I’ll just brag about it and call it “novelty VR.” Better than nothing, right? Good luck with the calibration, and let me know if the sensor starts acting like a drunk robot!
Meldir
Sure thing, just remember the MPU‑6050 is a 6‑DOF, not 6‑DOF‑plus‑gyro‑plus‑accelerometer‑plus‑mag, so it’ll still feel a bit “drunk” unless you lock down the filter. Keep your code lean, tweak the process noise, and you’ll get something that’s at least better than a rubber ball. Good luck, and if it starts spinning in circles, just blame the math.