Pico improves its body tracking solution with a waist tracker
Pico now offers an additional motion tracker for the waist to further enhance its body tracking.
The Pico Motion Trackers, sold in pairs, were launched last September at the same time as the Pico 4 Ultra. They attach to your ankles with a strap and bring your legs into virtual reality.
Pico Motion Trackers are compatible with Pico 4 Ultra, Pico 4 and Pico Neo 3 and support a range of standalone games as well as PC VR games via Pico Connect and more recently Virtual Desktop.
Yesterday, at a VRChat event, Pico introduced the Pico Motion Tracker Waist version, a single tracker with a longer strap specifically for the waist that builds on and complements the existing full-body tracking solution. Calibration remains simple: Just stand and look down at your body for a few seconds, and you are ready to go.
According to Pico, the additional tracking data improves the quality of body tracking, especially in a sitting or lying position.
The two ankle trackers still cost 90 Euros, while the waist tracker costs an additional 50 Euros. This brings the total cost to 140 Euros. A bundle is currently not available.
The introduction of the Pico Motion Trackers follows a major update of the PICO 4 Ultra OS.
A cost-effective and clever body tracking solution
For the motion trackers, Pico uses a combination of IMU sensors (for 3DoF tracking) and twelve infrared lights (for 6DoF optical tracking). More accurate tracking is therefore only guaranteed when the trackers are in the field of view of the headset's tracking cameras.
Pico's solution is a middle ground between Sony's low-cost Mocopi trackers, which use only IMUs, and HTC's much more expensive Vive Ultimate trackers, which use integrated cameras for precise positional tracking.
Pico promises a latency of less than 20 milliseconds, and 98% accuracy in detecting and adjusting step movements. The trackers weigh 27 grams each (without strap) and last 25 hours before needing to be recharged via USB-C.
To date, Meta has no comparable hip and leg tracking solution, and according to Meta's CTO, Andrew Bosworth, there are no plans to develop one.
Have you tried the Pico Motion yet? Join the conversation on Facebook, Bluesky or X or share your opinion in the comments below.
For feedback, topic suggestions, or other ideas, please email us at hello@mixed-news.com.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
