Have no fear, the VR revolution is coming… But, unfortunately, it seems that attached to this emerging technology is quite the price tag. There’s the Oculus Rift, leading the VR hype-pack with the pre-order price of $599, the Microsoft HoloLens at $3,000 (for the Development Edition), and heck, even Google recently announced the creation of an entire division dedicated to virtual reality computing. For those with an immense DIY spirit, however, there’s a much cheaper and more engaging way to get your hands on a VR headset: building it yourself. In an Instructables post by Turkish developer Ahmet Yildirim, Yildirim details the step-by-step process in order to construct an Oculus Rift-like VR device for a huge fraction of the cost.
“As a maker, you’ve got two options to acquire a new gadget. You can just buy it, or you can build it from scratch,” Yildirim writes in his blog. “In this case; I already had some research done on stereoscopic displays after my first interest in buying a Rift. So I already knew about some DIY projects on the subject.”
Yildirim’s open source project, which he calls OpenVR, was first created by the young developer back in 2014, and. since then, the Maker community has come to both applaud and improve upon the OpenVR build. The internal components of the OpenVR, such as the Arduino and LCD display, are encased in a 3D printed case, which Yildirim provides in the form of a number of .stl files. The 3D printed case is designed with properly sized holes to hold the lenses in place. Here is a complete list of parts listed by Yildirim, which he estimated the total cost at around $150:
Parts:
-Arduino Mini Pro
-GY-85 9DOF IMU
-USB to TTL Converter
-5.6” 1280×800 LCD Display
-12V Power Adapter for
-2x (50mm 5x Aspheric Lenses)
-3D Printed Case
-Shoulder Sponge Pad
-Some wires
Tools:
-Soldering Iron
-Hot Silicone Gun
-Arduino Software
-Processing Software
-Zip Package
Although $150 is a much more affordable option than the Oculus or HoloLens, the Maker community took notice of Yildirim’s DIY project and helped to make it even more affordable. On the Instructables project page, some commenters have pointed towards wholesale parts that reportedly almost cut the price in half. Yildirim walks us step-by-step through both the hardware and software set-up, and is continuously calling upon other Makers to get involved with his OpenVR project to help make VR devices both an affordable and DIY-driven technology.
“It was really rewarding. I hope OpenVR helps other VR enthusiasts to build their own VR headsets,” Yildirim writes. “I’m hoping others those build and improve upon OpenVR may share and feedback their findings to VR community.”
