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Relativty – An open-source VR headset

relativty.com

121–130 of 235 posts

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#121
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understood what they meant by "room-scaling" immediately and I've only ever used a VR headset one time about 4 years ago. On the other hand, I can surmise from my experience with robot arms that "DOF" likely stands for degrees of freedom , but I would have had no clue what "6DOF" meant in terms of VR.

OK. Fair point about "DOF". But what do you understand "room scale" to mean"? Genuine question.

Not OP, but in SteamVR room-scale is typically used to indicate you can move around within a play area, and your avatar/camera moves as you do.

Its the way the setting is named in Steam, and in SteamVR games.

Example:

https://www.vive.com/us/support/vive-pro-hmd/category_howto/...

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#122
post #21

I've been hoping someone would create an open source version of the lighthouse technology. I think that technology could be huge outside of VR. Inside VR, I just want more custom hardware... I want VR feet.

Isn't the lighthouse system relatively open? I recall the analog receiver circuitry is relatively simple, and Valve cooperated with an IC manufacturer to get rid of the analog stuff (or, more precisely: move it into an IC). The IC was intended to be not be exclusively for Valve alone.

Of course that doesn't help with the base stations, and might still violate [Valves' or other's] patents if used in an actual product.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#123
post #108

Where do you source the lenses?

There's an AliExpress link in the README of the Github repo. Though, I'd imagine you could use ones from cheaper 'phone-to-face' Google Cardboard-style ones.

Lenses are actually not that irrelevant for this application. There is a huge difference between some cheap plastic and camera-grade glass. You don't want [excessive] chromatic aberrations, or [excessive] "God rays" (the Vive has that effect), or other optical artifacts.

Optics is similar to electronics: With high school physics it's all quite simple, but with high school physics a transistor can switch nearly infinitely fast ;-)

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#124

To the creators: this is a really incredible achievement, especially to have done at age 15, and really well communicated. Please don't get disheartened by the mass of comments around this not actually being a $200 headset[1] or your unusual[2] spelling. This is freaking awesome, please keep it up! [1] It definitely would be cool to see some sort of parts list, but that's not really the point here. [2] Clever domain…

I think a lot of people are missing what I think are 3 main points before moaning about everything else: 1. It's freaking open source 2. It's DIY fun 3. It's the bare VR without being an over-engineered device that reports your farts to the manufacturer.

I can only respect and envy the guys for pulling this off.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#125

This might be a fun weekend project to work on, but cannot be built for $200. The displays alone (and their driver PCB that accepts DisplayPort) cost $195. They are also not 2K but rather 1440x1440 (or 2.0736M pixels). Maybe the displays were cheaper when they built this. They also hookup a 6-axis tracking chip (MPU-6050) to an Arduino board and feed it to a PC via usb. Even if tracking was working perfectly, this wo…

You forgot the cost of Mark Zuckerberg‘S eyes in your bedroom.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#127

It's like Oculus redux. Give it a few months and Google/Microsoft/Amazon will probably buy it up.

If the product turns out great they might buy it as an aqui-hire. What has Facebook gained from their purchase of Oculus? At the time I thought it was a pretty shrewd move by Facebook but six years later I'm not sure they got much for the $2 billion they spent.

Judging by the demos[1] they've shown and changes they've made to the Oculus software like homes, it seems like their long term goal is for it to be the basis of a google glass like system that's more environmentally aware and collecting lots of environmental mapping data for FB, and a VR facetime/The matrix but with Xbox Live avatars-ey thing. I think adoption is probably a ways out, but if people wind up wanting more than Teams/Zoom/Discord/Facetime and so on it sets them up.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTa8zn0RNVM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijmnk5L767U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JD6F9XYrMQ

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#128

To the creators: this is a really incredible achievement, especially to have done at age 15, and really well communicated. Please don't get disheartened by the mass of comments around this not actually being a $200 headset[1] or your unusual[2] spelling. This is freaking awesome, please keep it up! [1] It definitely would be cool to see some sort of parts list, but that's not really the point here. [2] Clever domain…

The parts are all listed right there on GitHub via the How to Build link, either with prices or direct links to AliExpress where you can see the price.

The build comes in under $200. I don't understand the whinging in the comments.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#129
post #82
post #80

If it supports 5GHz Wifi, something like this could eventually work well with VirtualDesktop (An incredibly useful app which makes the Oculus Quest truly wireless and capable of playing all SteamVR games from your PC). Keeping all the GPU overheads off the headset is the way to go. (And will also be seen eventually with future '5G' wireless systems (not to be confused with '5GHz' Wifi) which will put that 'grunt' in…

OT but how is the lag with Oculus Quest + VirtualDesktop? Let's say I wanted to play Half-Life: Alyx.

I think the lag is subjective. I find it noticeable compared to wired - however I'm fairly latency sensitive. I think if you've never played Alyx over wired, you may not notice the lag in VirtualDesktop. Playing something timing sensitive like Beat Saber it's very apparent and basically unplayable.

You also need ideal wifi conditions. I found the best option is to have a dedicated wifi card on your desktop and just make it into a dedicated AP for the headset. Without this I'd get occasional glitches/pauses which is motion sickness inducing.

Even with these drawbacks, I'd say VirtualDesktop is pretty amazing and shows the potential of what's possible. The image quality is far better than the wired Oculus link. The software is also far less buggy than Oculus link - it has nice, working integration with SteamVR that just works out of the box. I wonder how a single person could write a better implementation than Facebook/Oculus engineers, but there you go. And when it works, under ideal wifi conditions, it's really nice not to have a wire tether.

I imagine the future of VR will have dedicated wireless base stations. Nintendo was doing this almost 10 years ago with the WiiU - much lower bandwidth, but virtually lagless and resilient even in noisy RF environments.

Re: Relativty – An open-source VR headset

#130
Amazing work, congrats!

I think it is smart to build on top of SteamVR and PCVR, but...

I would love to drop my Oculus Quest for a DIY open-source headset. My #1 requirement is stand-alone. No cable, no wires. I don't own a gaming PC, so the Quest has been a great way for me to experience 6DOF VR.

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