Full-Body Tracking in VRChat — Everything From Zero to Moving, Researched

2026年8月21日

I researched full-body tracking for social VR from scratch: what you need, what it costs, and everything from the free routes to a serious hardware setup.

Full-body tracking puts your own movement onto your avatar. Wave and it waves, sit and it sits, dance and it dances. It is said to change the sense of presence in VR entirely. But plenty of people get stuck on what to actually buy.

My conclusion from the research is that the HaritoraX 2 (¥39,999, about $265) is the strongest choice for a first set. This article works up in stages, from a zero-budget trial to a full setup. (Prices are Japanese retail as of April 2026; ¥1,000 is roughly $6.70. Availability differs by country.)

The previous article in this series:

What full-body tracking needs

If you already play VRChat you have 1, 2 and 4, so adding 3 is all it takes to get started.

Step 0: try it free

Starting with ways to get a taste of it without spending anything.

VRChat Selfie Expression (official, free)

An official feature that tracks your face, head, arms and hands with a phone or webcam. It does not need VRChat+; anyone can use it.

• What it does: puts upper-body movement onto your avatar
• What it does not: track your legs and feet (the lower body does not move)
• What you need: a phone or webcam you already own
• Setup: enable it from the in-game menu (Tracking & IK)

It is not full-body tracking, but it does let you try “my body moves" for free. If that leaves you wanting your whole body to move, go to the next step.

MediaPipe VR Fullbody Tracking (open source, free)

Open-source software that does whole-body tracking from a single webcam using AI pose estimation.

• What it does: estimates full-body movement, legs included
• Quality: experimental. Accuracy falls where the camera cannot see
• Setup: somewhat involved (download from GitHub and configure)

From user reports, quality is well below IMU trackers (inertial sensors worn on the body that measure tilt and motion). Still, as a free test of whether you actually want full-body tracking, it is a strong option.

Step 1: starting cheap (–200)

Kinect plus Driver4VR (about –55)

A used Microsoft Kinect (around $20–35 second-hand) combined with Driver4VR (bought on Steam) gives you camera-based full-body tracking.

• Quality: reasonable for a camera approach. The Kinect v2 (the Xbox One one) is considered more accurate
• Drawbacks: needs space to set up, loses accuracy in a dark room, and has latency
• Who it suits: anyone treating it explicitly as a trial

PICO Motion Tracker (¥11,800 / about a pair), PICO headsets only

If you own a PICO headset this is the cheapest way in. Two units on your ankles and you are running.

• Quality: basic leg tracking works
• Drawback: PICO only. It will not work with a Quest
• Who it suits: PICO owners

Step 2: proper full-body tracking (5–400)

This is where real full-body tracking starts: IMU (inertial sensor) trackers worn on the body.

HaritoraX 2 (¥39,999, about 5) — the recommendation

Item	Specification
Price	¥39,999 (about $265) including tax
Tracking points	6 (chest, waist, thighs, shins). 8 with the elbow expansion set
Battery	About 80 hours for the chest and waist sensors, about 50 for the leg sensors
Weight	About 17g for chest and waist, about 6g for the thigh sensors
Base stations (the infrared boxes you put in the corners of a room)	Not required
Manufacturer	Shiftall (Japan)

Why it suits a first set:

1. Support in Japanese is thorough, which matters when something goes wrong (though that is less of an advantage outside Japan)
2. Little drift. It corrects with a magnetometer and per-unit tuning before shipping. User reports say it barely drifts over an hour
3. Long battery life. About 80 hours on the chest and waist and 50 on the legs, so no daily charging
4. About 17g for the chest and waist sensors. Light enough not to tire you out over a long session
5. No base stations. Nothing extra to install in the room

Setting it up:

User reports put the first setup at around 30 minutes; after that it is under five minutes to put the sensors on and connect.

SlimeVR Butterfly (about ¥42,000 / 0 for six) — shipping later in 2026

Open-source IMU trackers. The new Butterfly generation is under 7mm thick and under 10g.

• The appeal: extremely thin and light, open source, up to 48 hours of battery
• The catch: it is a crowdfunded product and shipping has slipped from the original end-of-August 2026 target (now expected later in 2026). Not in anyone’s hands yet
• Who it suits: people who like open source and want to be part of the SlimeVR community

Step 3: going further (0–670)

HaritoraX 2 Pro (¥53,899, about 0)

The upgraded HaritoraX 2. A fully cable-free eight-sensor configuration with foot sensors included, and about 80 hours of battery.

• The sensors themselves perform the same as the standard HaritoraX 2. The differences are the cable-free design and the foot sensors (elbows need the separate expansion set, about ¥13,900 / $93)
• Pro if foot accuracy matters, the standard model for value

Three Vive Ultimate Trackers (¥91,900, about 0 for the 3+1 kit)

Optical inside-out trackers with cameras built in. They do not drift, which is the main argument for them.

• Unlike IMUs, they recognise the space with their own cameras, so position holds
• No base stations required
• But they are heavier at 94g each, with about seven hours of battery
• Accuracy falls in a dark room
• For anyone who simply will not tolerate drift

Is your PC good enough?

Tracking itself puts almost no load on the PC. Anything that runs VRChat and SteamVR comfortably will be fine.

Item	Minimum	Recommended
GPU	RTX 3060 / RTX 5060 Ti	RTX 5070 or better
VRAM	8GB	12GB or more
CPU	Core i5 / Ryzen 5	Core i7 / Ryzen 7
RAM	16GB	32GB
Connection	Wi-Fi 6 (Air Link)	Wi-Fi 6E or better

VRChat is a heavy game in itself, so you almost never need to replace a PC for tracking. If VRChat already runs, adding trackers is all there is to it.

Quality against price

Approach	Price	Quality score	Type
Selfie Expression	$0	20	Camera (upper body only)
MediaPipe VR	$0	25	Camera (full body, experimental)
Kinect + Driver4VR	about $53	35	Camera
PICO Motion Tracker	about $79	45	IMU (PICO only)
Rebocap	about $200	50	IMU
HaritoraX 2	about $265	75	IMU, the best value here
SlimeVR Butterfly	about $280	73	IMU (from late 2026)
HaritoraX 2 Pro	about $360	80	IMU
Vive Ultimate x3	about $610	85	Optical (no drift)

The quality scores are my own consolidation of published specifications and user reports, weighted as:

• Tracking accuracy: 40%
• Freedom from drift: 25%
• Number of points supported: 20%
• Ease of setup: 15%

What that table says

1. The step from free to paid is large. There is a wide quality gap between the $0 camera approaches and a $265 IMU set
2. The HaritoraX 2 is the value peak. The most quality per unit of money
3. Between $265 and $610 the quality differences are small. Quality rises from HaritoraX 2 to Pro to Vive Ultimate, but gently for the extra spend
4. Camera approaches are ideal for a free trial, but catching up to paid trackers on quality is still some way off

Choosing

Case 1: new to VRChat, not sure what full-body tracking even is

Try Selfie Expression (free) first.

Before putting $265 down, try “my body moves" for nothing. Even upper body only changes the impression considerably.

Case 2: hooked on VRChat, want proper tracking

HaritoraX 2 (about $265).

The strongest candidate for a first set. Support, low drift and battery life together give it the best overall balance.

Case 3: dancing or filming, accuracy first

HaritoraX 2 Pro (about $360) or Vive Ultimate Tracker (about $610).

Dancing depends on fine foot movement, so the Pro. If drift during long recordings worries you, the optical Vive Ultimate is the safer bet.

Case 4: no money, but you want your whole body to move

A used Kinect (about $20) plus Driver4VR.

You compromise on quality, but you get “my whole body moves" for under $70. Upgrade to trackers if it takes.

Case 5: you own a PICO headset

PICO Motion Tracker (about $79 a pair).

PICO only, but two units on your ankles is as simple as it gets, and it makes a fine low-budget entrance.

By budget

Budget	Approach	Quality	Verdict
$0	Selfie Expression (upper body only)	Limited	Try this first
$0	MediaPipe VR (open source)	Limited	A trial
$35–55	Kinect + Driver4VR	Limited to fair	If price is everything
$79	PICO Motion Tracker	Fair (PICO only)	For PICO owners
$265	HaritoraX 2	Good	The recommendation
$280	SlimeVR Butterfly	Good (from late 2026)	For the open-source crowd
$360	HaritoraX 2 Pro	Good	For the particular
$610	Vive Ultimate Tracker x3	Good (no drift)	Accuracy above all

How it actually works

IK (inverse kinematics) is the technique of “given where the hand is, calculate the elbow and shoulder angles automatically." The more tracking points you have, the fewer joints have to be guessed.

[kimono_cost_table title="Tracking points against how the avatar moves"] Configuration|Points|What IK does Headset + controllers|3|Waist and legs are entirely guessed. Feet slide when you walk + waist tracker|4|Sitting poses become possible + two foot trackers|6 (basic full-body)|Leg movement is reflected. Walking, sitting and dancing look natural + two knee trackers|8|Kneeling and cross-legged poses get more accurate + two elbow trackers|10|Reaching behind your back looks natural + chest tracker|11|Torso twist is reflected [/kimono_cost_table]

The change from three points to six is the most dramatic, and that is what earns the name “full-body."

Common questions

Q. Can a Quest 3S do full-body tracking on its own?
The Quest 3S’s built-in body tracking (IOBT) is upper body only. The legs do not move. Full-body tracking needs added trackers.

Q. Can I use body tracking and face tracking together?
Yes. They are separate systems, so both can run at once. Face tracking options are covered in a separate article.

Q. What is “drift" on an IMU tracker?
Errors in the inertial sensors accumulate and the tracker’s orientation gradually diverges from reality. The HaritoraX 2 is said to suppress it well with magnetometer correction, but over several hours of continuous use a recalibration may still be needed.

Q. Can I lie down, or stand on my hands?
With IMU trackers, yes: they work from the direction of gravity and follow even vigorous movement. The Vive Ultimate Tracker handles it too. Camera approaches tend to lose you once you lie down.

What comes after

Starting full-body tracking is said to change the VR experience at its root.

• Presence in social VR increases. Sitting, waving, dancing: you can express with your whole body
• VR fitness gets more accurate. With the whole body tracked, effort is easier to measure
• It works as motion capture, for VTuber work and animation
• Collaborating in VR becomes easier, because gesture and body language come across

“Once you have felt your own body move in a virtual world, you cannot go back" is what a lot of users say.

Sources

• HaritoraX 2 — Shiftall (official: specifications, price, weight, battery)
• HaritoraX 2 Pro — Shiftall (official: eight-sensor configuration, foot sensors)
• Selfie Expression — VRChat Wiki (official feature, free, coverage)
• SlimeVR Butterfly Trackers — Crowd Supply (thickness, weight, battery, shipping)
• VIVE Ultimate Tracker — VIVE (official: 94g, about 7 hours, no base stations)
• PICO Motion Tracker — PICO Global (official: ankle-worn, PICO support)

Product information and prices in this article are as of April 2026, from the Japanese market.