Accuracy of 3D Motion Data During Dynamic Movements for Head, Controller, and Hand Tracking Estimated with a Head-Mounted Display

Accuracy of 3D Motion Data During Dynamic Movements for Head, Controller, and Hand Tracking Estimated with a Head-Mounted Display | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Accuracy of 3D Motion Data During Dynamic Movements for Head, Controller, and Hand Tracking Estimated with a Head-Mounted Display Georg Teufl, Mark Simonlehner, Brian Horsak This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7104269/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study assessed the spatial tracking accuracy of a head mounted display (HMD) under simulated dynamic exercise and gaming conditions, using both controller-based and markerless hand tracking inputs. The aim was to evaluate the HMD’s suitability for clinical and research applications by investigating three key aspects: (1) overall tracking accuracy, (2) the influence of different movement conditions, and (3) the effect of recording duration on spatial accuracy. Ten healthy participants completed six distinct virtual scenarios designed to elicit a broad range of head, arm, and full-body movements, including both highly dynamic locomotor tasks and slower, localized body movements. More than 225 minutes of data were recorded simultaneously with a state-of-the-art marker-based motion capture system and the HMD. Root mean square errors (RMSE) between the trajectories of both systems served as the main outcomes. Head tracking showed high accuracy across all tasks, with overall RMSE values below 4 mm. Controller-based hand tracking yielded RMSEs of 11.8 mm (left) and 8.3 mm (right). In contrast, markerless hand tracking resulted in higher errors (approx. 37-40 mm), limiting its use in precision-critical settings. Movement complexity impacted tracking performance. Head and controller errors remained low in steady tasks but increased with dynamic or occlusion-prone motions. Additionally, time-dependent drift was observed, with HMD tracking accuracy degrading slightly over nine-minute intervals. These findings underscore the potential of HMD-based tracking in digital health, while highlighting the need for further improvements in drift correction and markerless hand tracking precision for broader clinical adoption. Head Mounted Display Clinical Assessment Virtual Reality Motion Capture Rehabilitation Hand Tracking Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7104269","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":535870307,"identity":"76176838-de6c-45b5-a36b-21d9824d742d","order_by":0,"name":"Georg Teufl","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Applied Sciences for Health Professions Upper Austria","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Georg","middleName":"","lastName":"Teufl","suffix":""},{"id":535870309,"identity":"d4bb823f-56a1-4735-a23d-f76320e007e1","order_by":1,"name":"Mark Simonlehner","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mark","middleName":"","lastName":"Simonlehner","suffix":""},{"id":535870311,"identity":"9ebe4437-48d2-4425-9be7-48ef8c918308","order_by":2,"name":"Brian Horsak","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwbGBiB1AMRmZvhgc4BELYwz0g4w8EBlJHBrAQOIFmYeYrSYSx9u/FzAcEfOvP/wY2ObhDv29tINjB9+MNjV4dJi2ZfYLD2D4ZmxzI004+SchGeJPTIHmCV7GJJxO+wMY4M0D8PhxBkSDMaHc38cTuCRSGCQBroSn5bm32At/Mc/H7ZIOGwP1ML8m4GhHp+WNogtDDnGyQwJhxl7JBLYgLYcxqnFsoexzZrH4LCxhEROsWFPwuHEnjsH2yx7DI5LNuDQYs7D/vg2T8VhOQn+45slfgAdxj67+fCNHxXV/LhsgToPmSMBilwDHCqxA5yeGAWjYBSMgpEKAMjHUOewkOuQAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Brian","middleName":"","lastName":"Horsak","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-11 19:53:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7104269/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7104269/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":95081725,"identity":"ae75f9ed-70dd-4d6d-ae09-2e0ef9e5e721","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-04 06:24:40","extension":"json","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":5503,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"6cc25d5b5a7645a18a934fe8894057d1.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7104269/v1/89ff26d7edc1d8c7faae0e62.json"},{"id":95224187,"identity":"910c41b5-2cf5-4c20-9a22-e8f92e0785ea","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-11-05 16:23:29","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":5967126,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"2025PilotstudyAccurayofVRmotiondata.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7104269/v1_covered_3913f3c3-46c2-45f8-8951-a4fb96ea4e8e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Accuracy of 3D Motion Data During Dynamic Movements for Head, Controller, and Hand Tracking Estimated with a Head-Mounted Display","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Head Mounted Display, Clinical Assessment, Virtual Reality, Motion Capture, Rehabilitation, Hand Tracking","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7104269/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7104269/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"This study assessed the spatial tracking accuracy of a head mounted display (HMD) under simulated dynamic exercise and gaming conditions, using both controller-based and markerless hand tracking inputs. The aim was to evaluate the HMD’s suitability for clinical and research applications by investigating three key aspects: (1) overall tracking accuracy, (2) the influence of different movement conditions, and (3) the effect of recording duration on spatial accuracy. Ten healthy participants completed six distinct virtual scenarios designed to elicit a broad range of head, arm, and full-body movements, including both highly dynamic locomotor tasks and slower, localized body movements. More than 225 minutes of data were recorded simultaneously with a state-of-the-art marker-based motion capture system and the HMD. Root mean square errors (RMSE) between the trajectories of both systems served as the main outcomes. Head tracking showed high accuracy across all tasks, with overall RMSE values below 4 mm. Controller-based hand tracking yielded RMSEs of 11.8 mm (left) and 8.3 mm (right). 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