Kinect Head Tracker v2.1 is a modern, stability-first rewrite of the classic Kinect head-tracking concept, designed for long-running simulation use and serious rigs.
This project began as a fork of the original Magic Mau's Kinect Head Tracker, but has since evolved into a fully streamlined, hardened application with a strong focus on reliability, safety, and usability.
The original tracker proved that Kinect head tracking was possible — but it also carried years of technical debt:
- Unused and legacy code paths
- Memory instability over long sessions
- Fragile recovery when tracking was lost
- Limited quality-of-life features
- Unclear and finicky UI options
v2.1 fixes that foundation.
This is not a feature-piled rewrite — it is a carefully engineered rebuild that prioritizes correctness, resilience, and clarity.
Built to run for hours without degradation. No creeping memory usage, no gradual failure modes.
If face tracking is lost, the system recovers automatically — no restarts, no lockups, no frozen output.
Tracking logic is fully isolated from networking and transport layers, keeping the core engine predictable and safe.
Safe managed/unmanaged image handling eliminates common Kinect crashes and GDI+ failures seen in older implementations.
- Smooth, consistent pose output
- Designed for simulation and camera-driven environments
- UDP output for use with OpenTrack or custom pipelines
- Explicit start/stop control (never forced)
- Run on Windows startup (Task Scheduler)
- Auto-start tracking engine
- Auto-start UDP streaming (starts only after tracking data is flowing)
- Persistent window position
- Configurable network target (IP/port) for advanced setups
- Sensible defaults with advanced control available
Note on “Run at startup”: this setting uses Windows Task Scheduler.
On some systems, creating/updating the scheduled task may require running the app once as Administrator.
If the checkbox doesn’t appear to “stick,” right-click the app → Run as Administrator, toggle it again, then reboot/log off to verify.
- Minimal, focused interface
- Clear engine and streaming state
- Designed to stay out of your way during use
- Graceful “Disconnected” handling when no Kinect is attached (no modal error spam)
This tracker is intended for:
- Driving simulators
- Flight simulators
- Virtual camera rigs
- Dedicated head-tracking machines
It has been tested under extended continuous operation, with safeguards specifically designed to prevent the slow failures common in older Kinect tools.
If you want:
- A set-and-forget Kinect head tracker
- Something that doesn’t require babysitting
- Clean code you can understand and extend, or just build and use
- A tool that behaves like professional software
This is for you.
This project is a fork and evolution of the original Magic Mau Kinect Head Tracker. Significant architectural, stability, and usability improvements have been made.
If you want to build the project yourself (dependencies, SDK links, MSBuild/dotnet commands), see:
A precompiled, code-signed Windows installer will be available for convenience at:
👉 https://www.nickdodd.com/downloads/kinect-head-tracker
This installer is optional and provided for users who prefer a ready-to-run build. The full source code remains available in this repository.
Enjoy stable Kinect V1 head tracking!