You can 3D print a VR headset for $150
Virtual reality gaming is pretty cool, and I should know it. But it’s not the easiest thing to tackle, especially if you’re looking at a big bill just to try it. Meta is the most popular option, still starting at $300, and prices for a dedicated PC headset are closer to $1,000 USD. But one creator 3D printed a helmet with a few basic parts for just $150…and he’ll show you how to do it, too.
CNCDan on YouTube (spotted by PCGamer) loves getting into hobby-style form factors like FPV drone flying and racing simulators, both of which have a lot of overlap with headsets and head-mounted displays. Turns out there are tons of semi-generic parts for this sort of thing on Aliexpress, including the high-resolution dual screens (one for each eye) that almost all VR headset models use. The goals, possibly adapted from the old Google Cardboard design, were easy to find.
The last complex element was head tracking, which is complicated, but a problem already solved. CNCDan appeared in an existing open source system called Relativty [sic] VR which uses an Arduino board and an IMU (inertial measurement unit) sensor. A super basic PCB with a little soldering keeps these two parts connected.
The rest of the project consisted of a large part of product engineering, designing a headset housing and housing for displays, lenses and electronics, focusing on adjustment options that are not available in some similar projects. Assembly isn’t exactly easy, but Dan’s instructions are simple and the number of custom parts in the device itself is surprisingly low. It’s simply the main housing, two eye housings and lens caps, an IPD adjustment mechanism (which moves the housings to accommodate different users’ eye positions), a front cover, and a stand to hold the electronics. A face cover and strap, plenty of inserts and screws, and a few pieces of tape finish it all off, with just HDMI for video and USB for power to the gaming PC.
It’s an impressive project that shows a lot of amateur engineering skills, not to mention the confidence to tackle it. Dan says cheap eye shields aren’t great because they don’t quite measure up to 90Hz at 1440p specs, and some particularly tall or short people might not be covered by the IPD spread. He’s posted the 3D printing files, hardware part links, and guides on GitHub so you can try them out for yourself.
