A Redditor Used a Raspberry Pi to Build a DIY Virtual Reality Headset
Redditor Dungeon_Master_Dan was able to make his own virtual reality headset that has all of the features he wants.
You’ve almost certainly heard of virtual reality headsets, as they’ve made quite the resurgence in recent years after a disappointing false start in the ‘90s. They’re usually intended to put the user inside of a 3D environment — particularly a video game — but can also be used for more productive work. While sales haven’t exactly been stellar, a number of high-quality virtual reality headsets are currently on the market. All of them have their own pros and cons, but Redditor Dungeon_Master_Dan was able to build his own version with all of the features he wants.
This is actually both a virtual reality and an augmented reality headset. Augmented reality is very similar to virtual reality, except that virtual graphics and 3D objects can be laid over the real world. The popular Pokémon Go game, for example, relies on augmented reality — you just view the virtual objects through your phone instead of a headset. In this case, that headset started as Yuneec SkyView FPV (First-Person View) goggles. Those goggles are intended for FPV piloting of drones, and feature a 5” 720p LCD screen. Most importantly, they can accept a video feed from a standard HDMI connection.
That HDMI video feed is coming from a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, though Dungeon_Master_Dan says that he would recommend the more powerful Raspberry Pi 3 or 4. IR night vision camera is used to provide the video for the augmented reality functionality. Currently, the desktop environment can be overlaid semi-transparently on the video feed. Power comes from a 4000mAh battery pack, and a Logitech wireless keyboard is used for input. For the time being, Dungeon_Master_Dan is mostly using the headset for arcade emulation through RetroPie. But he plans to make a cyberdeck build his next project, and to connect his DIY headset to that once it is finished.
