Manus SteamVR Pro Tracker

Manus SteamVR Pro Tracker
Basic Info
VR/AR	Virtual Reality
Type	Tracking Device
Subtype	SteamVR Tracker, Body Tracker
Platform	SteamVR
Creator	Manus
Developer	Manus
Manufacturer	Manus
Announcement Date	February 17, 2021
Release Date	Q2 2021
Price	EUR 299 (pre-order); later EUR 300 / approx. $360
Website	https://www.manus-meta.com/
Versions	Manus SteamVR Pro Tracker
Requires	SteamVR, SteamVR Base Stations, compatible PC VR system
Predecessor	None
Successor	None announced
System
Operating System	SteamVR
Chipset	N/A
CPU	N/A
GPU	N/A
Storage
Storage	N/A
Memory	N/A
SD Card Slot	No
Display
Display	N/A
Resolution	N/A
Refresh Rate	N/A
Image
Field of View	N/A
Horizontal FoV	N/A
Vertical FoV	N/A
Optics
Optics	N/A
Ocularity	N/A
IPD Range	N/A
Adjustable Diopter	N/A
Passthrough	N/A
Tracking
Tracking	SteamVR Tracking (Lighthouse, outside-in)
Base Stations	SteamVR Base Station 1.0 and 2.0
Eye Tracking	N/A
Face Tracking	N/A
Hand Tracking	N/A
Body Tracking	Yes (worn on body for full-body tracking)
Rotational Tracking	Yes
Positional Tracking	Yes
Audio
Audio	N/A
Microphone	N/A
Camera	N/A
Connectivity
Connectivity	Wireless (USB dongle), up to 25 m range
Ports	USB-C (charging and wired use)
WiFi	N/A
Bluetooth	N/A
Power	Interchangeable rechargeable battery
Battery Capacity	Swappable battery pack
Battery Life	Up to 4.5 hours
Charge Time	Approx. 1 hour 15 minutes (USB-C)
Device
Dimensions	Compact puck form
Weight	62 g
Material	Plastic housing
Headstrap	N/A
Haptics	N/A
Color	Black
Sensors	SteamVR optical sensors (highest sensor count of any SteamVR tracker at launch, per Manus)
Input	N/A (tracking device)
Compliance	SteamVR Tracking compatible

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The Manus SteamVR Pro Tracker, also marketed as the Manus Pro Tracker, is a professional-grade SteamVR tracking device made by the Dutch hardware company Manus. Announced on February 17, 2021, it was the first SteamVR Tracking product designed and sold by Manus, a company previously known for its Prime Series motion-capture data gloves. The tracker is a small wireless puck worn on the body that reports its position and orientation to a PC running SteamVR, using the same Lighthouse base-station tracking system as the Valve Index and HTC Vive families of hardware. It is aimed at motion capture, virtual production, and full-body virtual reality rather than at consumers.

Manus positioned the device as a higher-end alternative to the HTC Vive Tracker, emphasising lighter weight, an interchangeable battery, and a higher sensor count. At 62 grams it is roughly 44 percent lighter than the HTC Vive Tracker, and Manus described it at launch as carrying "the most sensors in any SteamVR tracker available." The tracker integrates with Manus' Prime II series gloves and with Polygon, the company's full-body inverse-kinematics solution, so that hand, finger, and body motion can be combined in a single SteamVR-based capture pipeline.

Background

Manus is a hardware company founded in 2014 and based in Geldrop in the Netherlands. It began with virtual reality gaming gloves and grew into a supplier of high-fidelity finger-tracking data gloves used by professional studios, robotics firms, and research labs. Its Prime Series wireless gloves became a common tool for capturing detailed hand and finger movement in motion capture and virtual reality work.

In 2020 Manus introduced the Prime II generation of gloves alongside Polygon, a "suitless" real-time full-body tracking solution. Polygon uses an inverse-kinematics solver to reconstruct a full skeleton from a small number of tracked points: Manus described a setup using only five trackers, with the solver inferring the rest of the body. Polygon and the Prime II gloves relied on SteamVR trackers worn on the limbs and torso to supply those points. Until the SteamVR Pro Tracker, those tracked points came from third-party hardware such as the HTC Vive Tracker. Releasing its own SteamVR tracker let Manus offer an end-to-end system of gloves, trackers, and software under one brand.

At launch, Manus CEO Bart Loosman framed the product as a natural step for the company, saying that after years of using SteamVR Tracking, Manus was excited to launch its own SteamVR-enabled product.

Hardware and Design

The SteamVR Pro Tracker is a compact puck-shaped device that mounts to the body, to gloves, or to objects. Manus emphasised three design goals over the HTC Vive Tracker: lower weight, a swappable battery, and improved tracking sensors.

The body weighs 62 grams, which Manus cited as about 44 percent lighter than competing SteamVR trackers (the HTC Vive Tracker weighs roughly 89 grams). Manus stated that the tracker uses the latest generation of SteamVR sensor hardware and carries more sensors than any SteamVR tracker then available, which the company linked to more reliable tracking data.

Power comes from an interchangeable battery that can be swapped in seconds, so a drained pack can be replaced rather than waiting for a recharge. Manus quotes up to about 4.5 hours of real-world use per battery. The tracker charges over USB-C (5 V), with a full charge taking approximately one hour and fifteen minutes, and it can also be used wired over the same connector. An optional Manus charging station charges up to six batteries at once for continuous production workflows.

For mounting, the tracker uses the Manus Universal Mounting System, a slide-in mount compatible across the Manus ecosystem, including the Prime II series gloves. It also accepts standard accessory mounts such as a 1/4-inch tripod thread and a cold-shoe adapter, and Manus sells an optional professional strap set for attaching trackers to different parts of the body.

Tracking and Connectivity

The Pro Tracker uses SteamVR Tracking, the optical "Lighthouse" system in which external base stations sweep the play space with infrared light that on-device sensors detect to compute position and orientation. It is compatible with both SteamVR Base Station 1.0 and SteamVR Base Station 2.0, so it can be used with existing HTC Vive and Valve Index tracking setups. Because it relies on external base stations, it provides full six-degrees-of-freedom (positional and rotational) tracking within the area those base stations cover.

The tracker communicates wirelessly with the PC through a USB dongle, with a stated range of up to 25 metres, and it can also be connected over its USB-C port. Pairing is handled through the SteamVR dashboard: a status light shows green when unpaired, blinking blue while pairing, and solid blue once connected. Setup requires SteamVR, which is available free from the Steam store.

Software and Ecosystem

The SteamVR Pro Tracker is designed to slot into Manus' broader capture stack. It mounts directly onto the Manus Prime II motion-capture and VR gloves through the universal mount, pairing detailed finger tracking from the gloves with body tracking from the trackers. The trackers also feed Polygon, Manus' full-body inverse-kinematics solution, which reconstructs a full-body skeleton from a small set of worn trackers and retargets the motion onto an avatar in real time. Manus described the strap set and tracker combination as working with Polygon for full-body capture.

Because it is a standard SteamVR tracking device, the Pro Tracker is not limited to Manus software. It can act as a generic SteamVR tracked object for any application that supports SteamVR trackers, the same role filled by the HTC Vive Tracker in VRChat full-body setups and similar use cases.

Pricing and Availability

Manus opened pre-orders for the SteamVR Pro Tracker on the day of its February 17, 2021 announcement, at a price of EUR 299 per tracker, with shipments expected in the second quarter of 2021. Spare interchangeable batteries were offered at EUR 75 each. Later listings placed the price at around EUR 300 (about $360). Pricing and bundle details have varied over time and by region; the device is sold as professional equipment rather than as a mass-market consumer accessory.

Reception

Coverage of the announcement focused on the product's professional positioning. Road to VR reported the tracker as a lighter, professional-grade alternative built for studios rather than consumers. UploadVR noted that Manus had not initially disclosed a consumer price and that the enterprise focus suggested it would not be inexpensive, while highlighting the interchangeable battery and reduced weight as the headline improvements over the HTC Vive Tracker. Auganix and Animation World Network reported Manus' claims of the highest sensor count among SteamVR trackers and its integration with the company's gloves and Polygon software for full-body and virtual-production workflows.

Specifications

Specification	Detail
Type	Professional SteamVR body tracker
Manufacturer	Manus
Announced	February 17, 2021
Shipping	Q2 2021
Weight	62 g (approx. 44% lighter than HTC Vive Tracker)
Tracking	SteamVR Tracking (Lighthouse, outside-in, 6DoF)
Base stations	SteamVR Base Station 1.0 and 2.0
Sensors	Highest SteamVR sensor count at launch, per Manus
Battery	Interchangeable, up to ~4.5 hours real-world use
Charging	USB-C (5 V), full charge approx. 1 h 15 min; optional 6-battery charging station
Connectivity	Wireless via USB dongle (up to 25 m); USB-C wired option
Mounting	Manus Universal Mounting System, 1/4" thread, cold shoe, optional strap set
Software	SteamVR; integrates with Manus Prime II gloves and Polygon full-body IK
Use cases	Motion capture, virtual production, full-body VR
Price	EUR 299 at launch (later ~EUR 300 / ~$360); spare battery EUR 75

See Also

• Manus
• SteamVR
• HTC Vive Tracker 3
• Motion capture
• Full immersion virtual reality
• Lighthouse