Cardboard VR for SteamVR

This project is based on making a vr headset out of cardboard which can run vr games natively installed from play store or app store supporting google cardboard or even PC games on SteamVR using some extra software.

This tutorial will explain how to make your own VR headset and at the end some more steps to make it work with SteamVR for playing some VR titles on PC. It contains all the info you will need and some jokes because a plain tutorial would be boring.

Most of the dimensions and settings should work for most people but u may need to tinker it a bit more.

First of all you will need:

1) cardboard (may vary on the size of the phone which will be used)

2) Any phone with IOS or Android as long as it has gyroscope and accelerometer and new enough to support the apps/software

3) A PC with VR compatible specs

My specs are:

Intel I5 10400F

Nvidia GTX 1050ti

16GB RAM

4) Your phone should also have AR services if you want to use 6DOF tracking.

To be noted:

The software for using SteamVR is paid (kinda).

Instruction for straps in extra steps.

Cut out pieces of cardboard as below. The dimensions may vary according to the phone you are using. In my case, I am using IPhone 12 Pro Max so the dimensions of the phone are 8.5cm x 16cm x 0.5cm.

So the dimensions of the VR headset for me are 7.5cm x 15cm x 11cm.

Adjusting the height of headset to be 1cm less than length of phone, make length to be 1cm less than width of phone reducing it to 15cm(0.5cm from both sides), the width of box is 11cm which depends on the type of lenses you will choose. An image representation of the all the stuff is in the image above.

This will differ depending on the focal length of your lenses.

I am using 2.5cm diameter 45mm focal length convex lenses which happen to work great for me, so position of lenses in my case will be 4.5cm towards the bottom of the 0.5cm gap as in the image.

Lets call that line Lens placement line for referring to further.

Now this step is for cutting away parts to fit the face in.

By just marking the center of the lens placement line which is 7.5cm from both lines on the side. Now you can either draw a semi circle or a parabolic shape touching the bottom sides and the point marked above.

I did mine by hands because a perfect circle(drawn by compass) may mess up things later So an unstable hand is suggested to give this part to someone else with a stable hand.

Take a cardboard piece and draw the bottom three faces of the lower part we just made. You can instead use the image above. Remember the dimensions should be same as the lower part.

Now this step is for the lower part only.

Again this may vary and my data given here should work for most people unless you identify as pinocchio.

So start by marking a point 2cm above the center point used for making the gap for face and two more 1.5cm away from that point in both direction of the point on the lens placement line. The horizontal line should be 3cm.

Now cut out a 15cm x 7.5cm cardboard and draw a line along the 15cm side and mark two points on equal distance from the sides. The distance between them should be your interpupillary distance (distance between pupils). In my case it is 6cm. Now from those two points draw a circle of diameter equal to the diameter of your lenses, here it is 2.5cm.

For inserting the lenses you can either clear out the bits of cardboard between the layers and try to put it right in. It can be hard and needs higher precision and gives a clean look.

But if you are not too much into looks or your cardboard is too thin to fit the lenses you can make another lens board and place the lenses between them sticking them together with some glue or anything you can find sticky enough.

You can now fold along the lines of the upper and lower pieces(except the one below the 0.5cm marked in lower piece because your phone goes there).

Overlap the side large pieces of 11cm x 7.5cm of both the upper and lower pieces with the face cut out of upper piece facing the same side as the lower one.

This part now is kinda difficult so you should get another person to hold the rest of the body. Place the lens board carefully on the lens placement line standing straight. It should be done very carefully as a little bit of offset can ruin your experience. I advise to draw lines on all faces 4.5cm from the screen.

Now you can either use a tape(the one used for sealing heavy boxes is recommended) or glue gun or anything else that you think can hold the phone and the whole headset in place.

6DOF Tracking:

If you are using an app which uses AR for better tracking, you need to cut a hole on the back side of the headset which exposes your phone's camera.

Straps:

If you do not want to use your hands for holding the headset, you can either use the some cardboard for making straps going above your head and around it like in the real VR headsets or some other strong strips because these will be keeping the whole headset stable on your head so pick them carefully.

Decorations:

Some artwork for making your headset look good because a completely blank cardboard box held together with tape and hopes can be boring.

This step is for people looking for using it for SteamVR. All these softwares are not mine I just find them really helpful for this task.

First of all download Ivry on your phone from the app store/play store and PC from Steam.

Then on your phone you need to change some settings in the app.

Click the settings icon on the center top, set max bitrate to the speed of your internet connection(If you get 50mbps on phone and 70mbps on pc, enter 50mbps). I prefer frame rate at 60 but depending on your phone and internet choose accordingly. Moving on, Set the interpupilary distance to 60mm (55mm works better for me you can also try around and find what suits you best). Only turn on AR 6DOF tracking if you made a hole to expose your phone camera, this function lets you move in the VR space without it you stand stationary even if you move in real life. I do not prefer audio streaming rather use a speaker directly on your PC. Now you can run SteamVR and enjoy.

Make sure that ivry is enabled in steamvr addons.

Ivry is paid but lets you play for 5 minutes after that the screen will desaturate without stopping your game. You can restart SteamVR to remove the desaturation and reset the timer.

There are not many hand tracking options yet. I use Driver4VR(paid software) which lets me use 2 mice at the same time as hands in VR. This needs some configuration in the app first.

I tried using Vridge but Ivry turned out better. Vridge does provide a way to connect 2 more phones using a paid app for controllers. Vridge has many paywalls so you can be better off with Driver4VR.

After all the steps followed your headset should work like in the video above.

I hope you really liked this project!

Enjoy with your newly made VR headset capable of running steamVR too.

(If you followed the steps for that).

If you have any queries or suggestion you can write them down.