A Low-Cost Hack for Deeper VR Immersion

Today's virtual reality (VR) headsets are very impressive, thanks to the high-definition displays and accurate tracking. They really can make you feel like you're inhabiting a digital world. But there are still little details that tend to break immersion. The fact that you can't touch, smell, or taste anything virtual is an obvious example. But even the visual immersion can collapse when the displays don't extend into your peripheral vision. You see black areas at the edges of your vision and that reminds you that you're wearing a headset. To solve that problem, Staton developed VR Ambilight.

VR Ambilight is a mod for Valve Index VR headsets that adds just a little bit of lighting to the user's peripheral vision. From a technical perspective, this works just like the ambient backlighting systems that are popular for computer monitors. A system like that detects the pixel colors around the edges of the screen, then sets LEDs to the same colors. Those LEDs usually mount onto the back of the monitor, so they project light onto the wall behind the monitor. That results in an effect where the image from the screen seems to bleed over onto the wall.

VR Ambilight does the same thing, but to extend the screen colors into the user's peripheral vision. There aren't any actual pixels in the user's periphery — just a large swath of color. But because we don't perceive detail in our periphery, that is enough to increase immersion compared to unlit blackness.

Staton chose to integrate VR Ambilight with the Valve Index VR headset, since that receives video from a computer running Steam. Prismatik software looks at that video signal to detect the outer pixel colors. It passes that information to an Arduino through the USB port built into the Valve Index headset.

The only components needed for the headset modification are the Arduino Nano and two short lengths of WS2812B individually addressable RGB LED strips. The Arduino sticks onto the front of the headset and wires run from that to the LED strips mounted inside the headset. White plastic sheets diffuse the LEDs to make them blurrier and less harsh.

Best of all, this doesn't require any permanent modification to the headset. Hot glue or even double-sided tape can be used to attach the Arduino and LEDs, then removed later if the user wants to return the headset to stock.