Ryan reviews the Beam Eye Tracker, an affordable $30 AI-powered software solution that converts a standard webcam into a responsive head tracking device for Star Citizen, offering great immersion and ease of setup compared to expensive dedicated hardware. While slightly less accurate and dependent on webcam quality and lighting, it delivers excellent value with broad game compatibility, a free trial, and smooth performance demonstrated in gameplay.
In this video, Ryan (aka Mac) reviews the Beam Eye Tracker, a budget-friendly head tracking solution for Star Citizen priced at just $30, currently on sale for $22. Unlike expensive dedicated hardware like the Tobii, which costs nearly £300, the Beam Eye Tracker uses AI-powered software to transform a standard webcam into an effective head tracking device. This allows players to look around their ship’s cockpit or while on foot with greater situational awareness and immersion, offering a much quicker and more responsive experience than Star Citizen’s built-in FOIP system.
The setup process is straightforward but requires some initial calibration and configuration. After installing the Beam app via Steam, users select their webcam and adjust settings such as resolution and frame rate. Calibration involves looking at dots on the screen to fine-tune eye tracking, though Ryan personally prefers head tracking only. The software integrates with OpenTrack for game compatibility, and users can customize controls for recentering and toggling tracking. In Star Citizen’s settings, players must disable FOIP and enable TrackIR for the Beam tracker to function correctly.
Ryan highlights several advantages of the Beam Eye Tracker, including its affordability, ease of setup, and the availability of a free Steam demo, which helps users decide if head tracking suits their gameplay style without financial commitment. The tracker supports over 200 games beyond Star Citizen, and there are options for using Android phones as webcams or offloading processing to iOS devices for improved calibration. Despite its software-based nature, the Beam tracker delivers impressive performance for its price point.
However, there are some trade-offs compared to dedicated hardware. The Beam tracker is slightly less accurate and responsive, and its performance depends heavily on the quality of the user’s webcam. Ryan recommends at least a 720p resolution at 30fps for optimal tracking. Additionally, adequate lighting is necessary for the webcam to function well, though the AI helps mitigate this requirement somewhat. Overall, these minor downsides are outweighed by the tracker’s excellent value and functionality.
In gameplay footage, Ryan demonstrates the Beam Eye Tracker’s smooth and responsive tracking while exploring and salvaging in Star Citizen. He praises the device for its ease of use and the immersive experience it provides without the need for extra hardware. The video concludes with a reminder that the Beam tracker is currently on sale, offers a free trial, and represents one of the best price-to-performance head tracking options available, making it an excellent choice for players seeking affordable and effective head tracking.