ST's Head Tracking Cap Brings AI powered sensors to the Metaverse

While the Metaverse is still a bit of a joke, there's no denying that VR experiences are going to become ever more widespread, and the tech goes much deeper than just VR headsets. At Maker Faire Rome 2022 we stopped by the ST stand to take a look at a novel use of their SensorTile.box evaluation kit.

As well as providing precise head tracking, the built-in edgeAI core is trained on two eventualities. The first is when the cap is at rest and not being worn - a low power mode designed to save battery life and processing power. The second is the general operation - providing precise position and movement data to the onscreen head, reproducing natural head movements. 

The SensorTile.box has been around a while (although we were told there's a new version on the way), but this type of body tracking will become more important as chatting in VR becomes more popular. Cheap MCU and sensor-based solutions are going to democratize online spaces where folks may not be able to afford the most expensive and recent headsets.

VR still hasn't taken off the way many predicted it would, but that doesn't mean it won't. When the time is right, these kinds of devices are going to be the limbs of our online bodies. Ok it's kinda creepy when I put it that way. Creepy, but very, very cool.