DIY HMD

How to build your own HMD for testing purposes building upon Google Cardboard technology.

INTRODUCTION

Not all Dev’s can get their hands on a DEV HMD, so here is a quick guide that will enable you to a.) experience Steam VR at a basic level and b.) aid in development and testing.
What we’re going go to be doing is using the principle of Google Cardboard and taking it to the next level…

BUILDING THE HMD

First of all we need to make our HMD…
Here are a links to a couple of guides on how to do this…

http://gizmodo.com/notculus-rift-how-i-hacked-together-my-own-serious-vr-1688354373

http://www.roadtovr.com/diy-guide-build-smartphone-vr-headset-hmd-head-mounted-display-oculus-rift-games/

The first guide is the one I followed and it works great.

STEAM VR NULL DRIVER

Next we need to download the latest Steam VR beta and enable the Null driver.
Copy the text from this link https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamVR/steamvr.vrsettings and save it as steamvr.vrsettings into Steam/Config/
You should be able to run SteamVR apps now, the two I’ve run so far disable vertical mouse movement so tracking emulation using mouselook isn’t an option…

LIGHTHOUSE EMULATION

So... Finally to give us full tracking we need to follow this guide on emulating Lightouse. This is the one step I haven’t tested yet.
http://vrinflux.com/emulating-the-vive-with-a-kinect-and-xbox-controllers/

GUIDE VERSION NUMBER AND UPDATES

In order to keep this guide up to date, please do get in touch if you have any problems or if you have come up with any ways to get this working better (Vertical mouse look and Lighthouse are issues at the moment).

You can also join the "Notculus Rift" group where likeminded VR heads can gather.

MSB 10/18/15


VERSION HISTORY

V 1.0 10/18/15 - Created – Martin Shearman-Brettle

[vexkel]

sheeesh

[Maski!]

Wait, that’s illegal

[Syrsly]

I may get one myself, but I don't think it would offer the same accuracy and low latency as the Vive controllers. it also makes sense to use the trackpad for movement.

[Lord Tin Tin - Lord of the Dance]

@Syrsly ... yes I've been meaning to get a Leap Motion as you can assign Steam VR controls to it.

[Syrsly]

You could look into getting OSVR or something similar. It's like a cheaper "DIY" version of the Oculus. You will still be limited to seated position VR, mind you, but you can get motion tracking controls from a Leap Motion rig, which only costs about $30 (ebay) and some duct tape. ;)

[TerribleTactics]

does this still work? can't seem to get working but I'm probably doing something wrong...

[sGt sLAUGHTEr]

i made a tutorial using a OSVR headset with a STEAM Controller mounted ontop for head tracking :) you might find the hack usefull. Here is a link to my video > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxqZSGAC9WI

[TalentedBurrito]

I'm trying to get this running and I can't seem to get the null driver to work with 0.8.0-beta of Oculus SDK. Is there a specific version that this configuration works best on?

Also, will the Oculus SDK run with any graphics hardware or do I need one of those super high-end cards?

Thanks.

[Lord Tin Tin - Lord of the Dance]

Hi Black Blade, thanks for the nice comments. Just so you know, the experience is half way between a DK1 and DK2. The game compatability is actually quite good. Theoretically, all Steam VR games should be playable on this setup. Many Rift games can be played too. :)

[Black Blade]

Pretty nice, if only had a phone that support it, and a kinect :/

But hi nice guide, even that from what i can see, its not going to replace a Rift in the end, or a Vive, as you cant really play there games