My sacred quest for affordable VR

[KaizoMK]

This originally started about half a year back, with things like Google cardboard, trinus vr, and the like. I failed due to poor picture quality and high latency in the picture display, since I was using third party programs to send video of the game to my phone (or tablet, in a similar experiment.) It's also worth mentioning the gyro in my phone was pretty terrible and not suitable for this sort of thing. So I got discouraged and put it off, figuring that with the money it'd cost to buy a suitable direct display, I could just spend a little more on the Oculus and get a refined product.

Anyway, the oculus is $600 and ain't nobody got money for that. After some idle pondering, I discovered some already assembled raspberry pi displays, and through some testing ultimately determined that using one as my pc's secondary display would solve my latency issues. I could even reasonably fix my picture quality issue if I found one that supported a high enough resolution.

I already have the lenses I need to set up the hmd, and crafting the apparatus should be no big chore. As for head tracking, for about $15 I purchased a gyrometer/accelerometer/magnetometer along with the development board to operate/program/read it, and so assembling and configuring it is the project for next weekend.

I need to purchase a 7 inch lcd display - typically the only things I've really found have been overly expensive dvd players, or bare panels and controllers on the cheap. But the largest resolution I can find on a display of that size has been 1200x840 or so....the oculus rift uses a 2160x1200 if I'm not mistaken. I might settle for spending $40 on a cheaper display, but ultimately I'll want to get a high quality one....if I can even find one at that size.

Any input is appreciated. Am I overlooking something major? Does anyone know where I could acquire a high resolution 7" display? Will I need to wear my glasses in order to see properly, and if so does anyone have any tips for optimal construction?

 

[grammatonfeather]

Good luck. I used to be into electronics but I am too lazy for all that these days. You said ain't no one got money for Oculus. A friend a mine pre-ordered within minutes of it going online and the rate of orders far exceeded expectation.

CV1 costs less than half the cost of pre-oculus era VR (i.e. the $1500 Sony HMZ).

Be very wary of how much you spend to build your own VR since it won't give you the performance of CV1 or Vive.

 

[Pyro Steel]

You could use a Samsung note5 display. Its a 5.7" 2560X1440.
OR
Nexus 7 2013 is a 7" at 1920X1200
Or
iPad mini at a 7.9" 2048X1536

As far as not needing to use glasses - when you put together a mount for the screen, you could use a worm gear to move the display further away/closer to your lenses changing the focal length maybe?

A friend a mine pre-ordered within minutes of it going online

thats what i did too. I got in the March shipping group. Im way excited

 

[KaizoMK]

You could use a Samsung note5 display. Its a 5.7" 2560X1440.
OR
Nexus 7 2013 is a 7" at 1920X1200
Or
iPad mini at a 7.9" 2048X1536

As far as not needing to use glasses - when you put together a mount for the screen, you could use a worm gear to move the display further away/closer to your lenses changing the focal length maybe?



thats what i did too. I got in the March shipping group. Im way excited

I have to be able to use the device directly as a monitor - any sort of intermediate protocol (I.e. If I have to use a program to send data to it) will cause latency. A tablet likely won't make the cut, it would have to be a monitor.

The issue with sight is that if I'm not mistaken the apparatus simulates depth perception, and I don't know if I'll be unable to focus on things that are "far away" or if it'll look clear to me since everything is 2 inches from my face. Does anyone have an oculus that does or doesn't wear glasses?

 

[KaizoMK]

Be very wary of how much you spend to build your own VR since it won't give you the performance of CV1 or Vive.

Right, for the moment my whole kit probably works out to $80, with a less-than-optimal display resolution and a lack of plug'n'play (I'll need to use programs or games that supply side by side picture, and I'll have to use a program to send gyro data to programs that use the right protocols.) I have no idea what else goes into the rift aside from ease of use and picture quality....the former doesn't matter to me, the latter I hope is fixed by buying a better display.

 

[Distance]

The current hmd's aren't really that expensive when you thing about it. The amount of time and money you'll invest in trying to reinvent the wheel to have affordable vr will probably work out to be more expensive than the rift in the long run.

 

[KaizoMK]

The current hmd's aren't really that expensive when you thing about it. The amount of time and money you'll invest in trying to reinvent the wheel to have affordable vr will probably work out to be more expensive than the rift in the long run.

True, except it's more cost efficient to use my own labor when possible. And I'm nowhere near the cost of a rift.

My biggest concern is getting a high resolution 7" display at this point. It's going to be the limiting factor soon..

 

[Noogillim]

http://blog.reasonablycorrect.com/raw-dpi-raspberry-pi/

May help you understand driving a panel direct - obviously sourcing a screen the size you want with the resolution you want may take a little time.

I would suggest you look for dead tablet but with working screen open it up then approach driving it direct obviously making an interface to connect a standard PC monitor output and obviously a power source to run it.

These people list lots of panels and controllers

it May be of help to you in your quest

http://www.display-solution.com/en/

 

[Bakkster]

Anyway, the oculus is $600 and ain't nobody got money for that. After some idle pondering, I discovered some already assembled raspberry pi displays, and through some testing ultimately determined that using one as my pc's secondary display would solve my latency issues. I could even reasonably fix my picture quality issue if I found one that supported a high enough resolution.

Remember, higher resolution means more GPU horsepower, which isn't cheap either. Make sure you can afford to drive the thing.

But the largest resolution I can find on a display of that size has been 1200x840 or so....the oculus rift uses a 2160x1200 if I'm not mistaken. I might settle for spending $40 on a cheaper display, but ultimately I'll want to get a high quality one....if I can even find one at that size.

The Oculus CV1 uses one 1080x1200 panel per eye, it's no longer a single screen. Remember that when you're thinking of display quality, an off-the-shelf OLED panel is almost certainly going to be just 60Hz refresh rate, and unless your display driver supports it won't be low persistence. That means even in the best case scenario you'll get ghosting, tearing, and a bunch of other artifacts inherent with using an off-the-shelf cell phone screen.

Also bear in mind that resolution is only one factor of the quality of an OLED panel for an HMD. Fill rate and sub-pixel layout will determine how much screen-door effect you get, and how clear text looks.

Am I overlooking something major?

Don't underestimate the complexity of enclosing all of this, and keeping it from drooping on your face or otherwise just plain being more hassle than it's worth. Especially since you're using a dev board, those things aren't light and easy to work with. Also make sure to account for signal integrity, long cable/trace runs can cause the signal to degrade and mean nothing will work.

Which SDK are you planning on hooking into?

The issue with sight is that if I'm not mistaken the apparatus simulates depth perception, and I don't know if I'll be unable to focus on things that are "far away" or if it'll look clear to me since everything is 2 inches from my face. Does anyone have an oculus that does or doesn't wear glasses?

The lenses change the focal length for you. Instead of focusing 2 inches from your face (which would cause strain) they're a further focal depth. DK1 was infinite distance, DK2/CV1 are around 4 feet (which they find is pretty much rest state for the eye). If you already have lenses from an HMD, then they should be set somewhat appropriately. If you need to roll your own specifically for your eyes... then you're probably waiting for this Kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451454651/vr-lens-lab-prescription-lenses-for-virtual-realit

Right, for the moment my whole kit probably works out to $80, with a less-than-optimal display resolution and a lack of plug'n'play (I'll need to use programs or games that supply side by side picture, and I'll have to use a program to send gyro data to programs that use the right protocols.) I have no idea what else goes into the rift aside from ease of use and picture quality....the former doesn't matter to me, the latter I hope is fixed by buying a better display.

$80, if you can get it to work. Honestly, my advice is that if cost is your only reason for doing this, then you shouldn't do it. Homebrew electronics never ends up being cheaper than buying off the shelf. You should really only be doing it if you want the experience, or find it fun to do whether or not you have a functional end product. If you don't know what goes into the Rift, that makes me wonder if you have enough interest and aptitude to actually put it all together. No offense intended, but if you haven't bothered to do that research what makes you think you'll be able to put in the hours and effort to make this all work?

If it's just that you want a lower-cost alternative, then honestly you should just buy a used Rift DK1/2. If you want to put it together, then look at an OSVR kit, and avoid reinventing the wheel on a lot of this stuff.

http://www.razerzone.com/osvr-hacker-dev-kit