Steer with your hands or your head
Air Wheel turns your webcam into a steering wheel: hold an imaginary wheel and drive. Head Control steers by tilting your head while your hands stay on the keys or pad. The camera picture is processed on your device and is never recorded or sent anywhere.
Set up in one minute
- Camera at eye level, 60 to 90 cm away. A laptop camera is fine. You should see your head and both hands with your arms bent, like holding a real wheel.
- Light from the front. A lamp or window in front of you, not behind you. Dim rooms work, but tracking is steadier with light on your hands.
- Plain background if you can. Busy patterns or another person in view can confuse the tracker.
- Turn it on: menu > Controls & steering > Air Wheel (or Pause > Air Wheel). Your browser asks for the camera once: choose Allow.
- Calibrate (3 seconds): a small mirrored preview appears with your hand skeletons and a virtual wheel. Hold your fists still at the ten-to-two position until it says calibrated. That position is now straight ahead. Re-centre hands in the pause menu repeats it any time.
Every gesture
Steer
Turn both fists like a real wheel. The further you turn, the sharper the car turns; let them come back to centre to go straight.
Gas
Push both hands toward the screen. The further you push, the more throttle.
Brake / reverse
Pull both hands back toward you. Hold it when stopped to reverse.
Shift gears
Make an OK sign with one hand for a quick paddle shift. Or take your right hand off the wheel and lower it like reaching for a stick: forward = up, back = down. An H-pattern is available too (calibrate it in Pause > Realism).
Handbrake / drift
Lift both hands up high for the handbrake: great for tight turns and drifts. Bring them back down to drive on.
Horn
Bring both fists together in the middle.
Fire (auto)
Your hands are busy driving, so the gun fires by itself whenever the aim locks on a target. F or a mouse click fires too.
Parachute
Off a cliff, when DEPLOY CHUTE shows: raise both hands. Steer while gliding; it flares by itself before landing.
Watch it in the game
Real gameplay from Dune Boogie. The panel in the corner shows the hand or head move that drives what you see.
Air Wheel settings (Pause menu)
| Setting | Choices | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hand mode | Both hands on the wheel (default) · One hand steers, other hand pedals · Both fists = gas, open hands = brake | Pick the style that is comfortable. In one-hand mode the other hand does gas (open) and brake (fist). |
| Feel | Light · Normal · Realistic | How far you turn for full lock: about 60, 90 or 135 degrees of wheel. |
| Steering direction | Normal · Inverted | Flip it if your camera mirrors the picture the other way. |
| Re-centre hands | button | Hold still for 3 seconds to set straight-ahead again. |
| Hand shifter | Forward = up / Forward = down · Calibrate H-pattern | For the right-hand gear stick gesture. |
Head Control
Tilt to steer (default)
Ear toward your right shoulder = steer right, left shoulder = left. Head straight = go straight.
Turn to steer
Prefer looking? Switch to turn mode: look right = steer right.
Gas, brake and the rest
Head Control only steers. Use W / S (or the triggers, or the on-screen pedals) for gas and brake; every other key works as usual.
Sensitivity
Low / Normal / High = 30, 20 or 12 degrees of tilt for full lock (turn mode: 35, 25 or 15). A small dead zone keeps the car straight when you hold still. Re-centre head: look at the screen, head straight, for 2 seconds.
Troubleshooting
"The camera is blocked" / no camera prompt
Click the camera icon at the right end of the address bar and choose Always allow, then press Air Wheel again. In Chrome or Edge you can also open Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Camera and allow duneboogie.com.
Windows: the camera is off for browsers
Open Settings > Privacy & security > Camera. Turn on Camera access, Let apps access your camera and Let desktop apps access your camera, then restart the browser.
Mac: the browser has no camera permission
Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera and switch on your browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox). Quit and reopen the browser.
"The camera is busy"
Another app or tab is using it: close Zoom, Teams, Meet, OBS or another browser window, then try again.
"No camera found"
Plug in a webcam or use a laptop, tablet or phone with a front camera.
"The hand-tracking model did not load"
The tracker downloads once (a few MB). Check your connection, turn off ad or script blockers for this site, and press Air Wheel again.
Steering is jumpy or drifts
- Add light in front of you; avoid a bright window behind you.
- Keep both hands in view; sleeves and gloves are fine.
- Re-centre (Pause > Re-centre hands) and try the Light feel for smaller movements.
Cloud play
Air Wheel and Head Control use the camera on your own device, so they work in browser play and the Download Edition. In cloud play, use the keyboard, a controller, a racing wheel or touch.