Tony BarkDIY YouTuber builds cheap VR headset and makes it open-source
utopiahIt’s always cool to see such projects, and I was discussing about the topic just yesterday.
… but please, don’t spend $150 on that. This is limited has it has :
- no controllers (and gamepads aren’t spatial),
- no hand tracking (which would be spatial),
- no 6DoF, so you can’t move your head or body around, just turn your head around
- a very limited software stack, e.g. no OpenXR (AFAICT),
- a cable to be plugged to a computer, i.e. it’s not standalone
so it’s basically a more open but not standalone version of the Oculus Go. For context the Go is from 2018 and back then was $200 while being standalone. Note also that the Go is rootable, cf developers.meta.com/…/unlocking-oculus-go/
There are also other DIY VR HMDs, e.g. github.com/relativty/Relativty from 2020 which similar limitations. In fact this made so much buzz back then the founder managed to ride the hype and make (sadly) a VC funded startup. I say sadly because the initial project was all open VR and openness but once the money was locked-in… well I let you check.
So… again this is VERY cool to build but please do not consider this anything but a way to learn. If you do want to play with VR with a limited budget consider instead an accountless (meaning no Meta involved) second hand Meta 2.
I think it’s good enough for learning and doing something weird but Meta Quest 1 or 2 cost less (just checked 2nd hand local website and saw a few for 100€) and require 0 hardware work while providing 6DoF (leaning just a tad in your cockpit? Huge difference) and higher refresh rate.
Again, it’s amazing to tinker but unless it’s part of a both technical and ethical adventure then I believe there are better options out there already.
Those who want to use vr will buy, sometimes it’s not about destination but about the journey. And this can inspire someone to further improve on design and maybe makes it even more user friendly, cheap and with no strings to shitty corpos.
Sure, that’s literally how I started both comments but I can try to clarify a bit more my point : if you want to “just” use, this isn’t great, but if you enjoy building itself, it might be even better.
FWIW I do both, including professionally, so I definitely get the point of making a headset, or anything really (I even do a bit of woodworking and welding) yourself or building thanks to the previous projects of others. I’m definitely NOT suggesting it shouldn’t be attempted. I’m solely warning people who are solely, or even mostly, interested in a usable object while investing minimum effort in.