I already made a pledge worth a few Rift units @ Kickstarter however I don't think I can wait until December. I just ordered the parts to build a HMD based on what is known about the current Oculus design. Is anyone interested in doing this with me? The cost will probably be equivalent or a bit higher, and it will take some work. However I am sure it will be a great learning experience

You can find the updated building instructions here:
http://bitcortex.com/oculus-libre-open- ... culus-rift

Be sure to review this whole thread as it details a handful of different designs you might like too!

[Advanced]
Also check this thread for a guide explaining how to use an HDMI cable for your LVDS connection:
viewtopic.php?f=140&t=15554

[Community Build Pics]

Rod Furlan (me):



TheLostBrain:



WickedAndy:



Space123321:



Sellars:



Chriky:



Zacherynuk:

Hello Rod,

that sounds interesting. What's on your partslist?

I know that the LCD Controller board shown in the Oculus Rift trailer is the HV276 and i think palmer confirmed that the Rift is using the HV056WX1-100 LCD display or a very similar one.

Do you have any clues on the lenses? I think aspheric lenses are being used.

Greetings,

Jotschi

You are correct, the controller board in the trailer is the HV276, however the final specs also list DVI as an input.

This is a photo of one of the latest prototypes:
http://local.twitpicproxy.com/web6/img/ ... scaled.jpg

It uses this board, which supports DVI:
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/42 ... alers.html

Notice that the board was cut

Conveniently, both the display and the board can be bought from Vitrolight on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-6inch-TFT-LCD ... 382wt_1163

As a starting point, I am using for the lens:
Plano Convex Lens AX73263 43.0mm dia. x 77.0mm FL Eyepiece
Double Convex Lens AX74264 62.8mm dia. x 72.4mm FL Objective

Probably not the right ones, but I hope it will be good enough as a starting point

A strong clue to the lens would be the ones that the MXR lab are using for the fov2go:

http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/len ... or-fov2go/

best estimate based on images of the prototype would be the 7X Aspheric

Thanks profvr!

I have ordered the FOV2GO lenses too. I should have everything to get started by Tuesday.

what do you think of this?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-6-LCD-720p-WX ... 25737f29f0

I thought of bodging something together but I honestly think when its all said and done I'd be better of waiting on the Rift..

I just got a couple of controller/screens from this seller - it arrived today, the controller board is tiny (which is great) and the LCD panel is very, very sharp. Viewing angles are not so great but for a HMD that will not be an issue. This is not the same board the Rift is going to use by the way, but it seems to do the trick.

Waiting for the Rift is definitely the best thing to do, the only point of building by yourself is for learning

I was considering trying to build something with two screens like TheLostBrain has built.

viewtopic.php?f=138&t=15244

Im just fearful of latency issues and such.. hmm.. but 1280x800 per sounds eye sounds just too awesome

His stuff looks great, clearly out of my league though

So the boards work:

About the optics:

(1) The FOV2GO lens (UltraOptix SV-2LPLED 7X Aspheric LED Lighted Magnifier) will not work (too small, too much magnification).
(2) The "LEEP on the cheap" lens will (most likely) be too big - I will know for sure when it arrives on Tuesday.

Does anyone have a suggestion?

Whats the name of the driver board? Are there any clues on the silkscreen? Unfortunately the seller does not ship to austria. I sent a message to the sender maybe the shiping options i need will be added.

Do you have any ideas of mounting the display + driverboard? Maybe skigoggles or crossgoggles will to the trick.

Greetings,

Jotschi

The board I got is a NT68674.5X



Not yet, first I need to figure out the optics and the distance between the screen and the lens

I used my CSI skills and looked at the Oculus Rift trailer frame by frame. There is a section where Palmer is assembling the rift devkit (or at least an older version). You can clearly see the magnifying glass lying on the red bench from which he removes the lenses.

I'm 100% sure it is the "UltraOptix SV-2LPLED 7X Aspheric LED Lighted Magnifier"

http://www.amazon.com/MAGNIFIER-Draftin ... =SV-2LPLED

The trailer gives also some clues about the lense distance from the display and other things.

Thanks Jotschi, that is very helpful

By working out the details in this picture:



I had guess-estimated that the lens diameter should be between 4.23cm to 4.67cm (vs. 3.5cm of the SV-2LPLED). But that is likely to be wrong since that was based on assumptions about the size of other objects in the image.

The SV-2LPLED "works" as it delivers a huge FOV, but it seems to leave a lot of pixels out of the visible range. I will experiment with it further though

I think Jotschi is correct.

By measuring the distance between the right side of the left lens and the right side of the right lens on my screen (32" in 1360x768 with 150% zoom on Google Chrome) it gives 13cm. I measured the diameter of the right lens at 7cm.

Considering a standard IOD of 6.5cm, this gives 3.5cm for the diameter of the lens, exactly the same than the UltraOptix SV-2LPLED 7X Aspheric LED Lighted Magnifier (1 3/8" from http://www.ebay.com/itm/UltraOptix-SV-2 ... 827wt_1035).

Too bad theses lenses can't be shipped to Europe/France at reasonable prices (more than x5 the original price) since I've already got a 5.6" display (only 1024x600 but still useful for testing).

Cheaper source for 2+ (which I assume is a desired quantity) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lighted-Magnifi ... 19d3ebeffa

;P And this sounds like a ton of fun. I really wish palmer had/would share more about the design--I know he's really busy since this took over n all. I know he at least at one point intended to--and hopefully still does. :-/

Seems I'm not lucky :
"Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. [...]".

Hi Fredz, I could ship you a pair if you would like, PM me and let me know

Why on Earth Would a magnifying glass be blocked due to legal restrictions? thats a bummer

On the bright side, if Palmer shared all the details, we wouldn't learn nearly as much from trying to figure everything out

Since Palmer has a real shot at ushering VR into mainstream, I wouldn't blame him if he abandons the DIY scene to focus on Oculus as a business. And when he releases the retail version, I will also buy as many units as I can afford (and find a use for)

When I ordered a couple lens from Anchor, they made be fill a form specifying the final destination of the order because they noticed my billing address was in Canada. I found it rather odd

Very interested to see if these lenses work out for you - if so I may go ahead as well and start tinkering while I wait for the Kit from Palmer.

In terms of the screen and board - did you order the ebay link list above as in your picture the board seems smaller than the board shown on the ebay link. Did all of the cables that are required come with the screen/board purchase?

Finally, I am also in Canada (just North of Toronto) therefore I will be dealing with the same shipping concerns.

I've bought the lenses from ebay for FOV2GO projects before, from ebay (the seller I last used has just run out!) and also direct from http://www.magnifiersbooklightsandmore.com. For the direct route, it took them a day or so to come up with a shipping price to the EU, but it was reasonable.

This is what I got:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-6-LCD-720p-WX ... 25737f29f0

It came with everything I need to use it, and the seller was very helpful, highly recommended

What did you decide to do for headtracking? I know carmack was using a hillcrest tracker which i suppose is whats going to be in the rift.. Did palmer say for sure? There's always FreeTrack,TrackIR and Wii motion plus hacks. I'd strap a wiimote on my head.. I got no shame

Some progress and notes:

(1) Lens: after further testing, I can confirm that the the SV-2LPLED works beautifully!
(2) Using a diffuser is a must, otherwise the visible pixels are somewhat distracting
(3) Testing with Crysis 2 in SBS 3D mode, the stereo effect is subtle but pleasant
(4) The FOV is huge, yet the image feels smallish and square, which is odd since I can't even see the corners of the screen
(5) The low-resolution is a downer - however I believe is that great head-tracking will make up for it

I am not sure yet, options I am considering:

(1) Wiimote Plus (will bluetooth latency be a problem?) $35
(2) Razer Hydra (apparently awesome: fast and precise) $99
(3) Hillcrest (USB) $99
(4) Ardupilot (a friend has a few so I might use it as a temporary solution)

As it turns out I am getting some image artifacts because the LVDS cables I have aren't properly shielded.

From Wikipedia



Does anyone know how to overcome this problem?

I'll have to do some digging but i saw a few people interfacing the motion plus attachment with an arduino sans wiimote. May have been for some self balancing robotics application. I cant remember

Might be the FOV isn't set exactly right for vertical and horizontal? If the two are locked to the same one you won't get the right perspective. Ideally it should be set in software so everything appears 1:1. Even if filling your field of view if your software FOV is too large things will appear shrunken.

Not sure if you've seen this. Its probably old news to all you long time MTBS3D members. The youtube name is Cybereality and its in 3D so I assume its Cybereality from the forum here. Its very impressive. Of all the official videos I've seen from Razer none of them impressed me like this video from him.

I bet processing the head motion will most likely not be done fast enough. I would use such sensor for tracking horizontal head movement.




http://www.hillcrestlabs-devstore.com/s ... h-2/Detail
Thats amazing.. the sensor itself costs $99 but shipping to europe costs $150!!

@Brandon9271: Thanks man, thats my video. The Hydra is a really nice kit, would love to see more people supporting it.

Another update:

(1) With a diffuser on, the image is smooth (but not blurry at all) and the individuals pixels are impossible to spot.
(2) Playing with the position of the lens for a whole afternoon can give you a massive headache
(3) For some odd reason the controller board sets the default resolution to 1440x900, which looks great (and crisp) but doesn't match the native resolution of the panel. The odd thing is that if I set the resolution to 1280x800, I can see interpolation artifacts (pixel doubling) - maybe this controller board isn't very good.
(4) I am finding it hard to overlook the low resolution of the display - 640x800 is really low - and it covers your whole field of view. Maybe with more use I will get used to it, in fact, the low resolution of the HMZ-T1 bothered me for a while and now I am happy with it.
(5) Trying to coerce games that were not designed for immersion to work with the Oculus at the driver level isn't realistic. Games (and experiences) must be designed with the Oculus in mind otherwise the user experience will be poor. Things like HUDs and UI elements are not usable unless they are positioned closer the center of the screen.

Thanks for the video, it helped me make up my mind, just ordered one!

http://sixense.com/developers

The videos on the dev page really show what its capable of. Its a shame most of the viideos on youtube just show it emulating a mouse. I just may buy one of these to keep me busy and wait on the Rift to come out.

@Cybereality since you used all three, How did the Hydra compare to the Wiimote and PS Move? Seems like the Hydra would be easier to work with and more of a complete solution.

There has been some Skyrim files posted on here that warp the image in preparation for the Rift (as well as Mirror's Edge I believe). Have you tried these out at all?

In terms of the Hydra - I have also ordered it as well, and simply love it however I have held my self back in using it to much while I wait the Rift Kit to start playing around!
Portal 2 rocks with the Hydra!

I haven't yet

To clarify my point regarding playing games on the Oculus Rift without native support:

(1) Yes, you could "inject" basic SBS support w/ the required distortion - it is absolutely possible!
(2) However, if the game isn't "immersion aware" you will have problems with anything placed around the corners of the screen. Text for example, is only comfortably readable when it is near the center of the screen.
(3) Most games can rotate the viewport around yaw and pitch but not roll, or translate on X, Y and Z. Without adequate head-tracking support immersion will suffer

You need to check out Cyber's driver. It handles Rift warp correction and injects camera roll as well.

http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=14970&start=150#p76766