How-To, Teardowns and Tutorials
Build Your Own 3D Shutter Glasses Controller for Field Interlaced Stereoscopic
There are tons of stereoscopic DVDs and VHS tapes on the market encoded as field interlaced stereo. Also, one of the easiest ways to make 3D video is with a camcorder (NTSC or PAL) and a NuView 3D adaptor (often selling on Ebay for less than $100.) For...
Build Your Own Fluid-based Prismatic Stereoscopic Goggles
For 150 years people have been free-viewing stereoscopic photos (and more recently videos) in a side by side cross-eyed format, where the left view is positioned to the right of the right view. You’re force to cross your eyes like an optical...
Build a 2 DOF Wireless Head Tracker – Cheap!
Not long ago I needed a whole bunch of head trackers for just one week. Not wanting to invest tens of thousands of dollars in high-end tracking systems, I came up with an easy DIY head tracking system constructed from the guts of a Gyration Air...
VRASP, Pix-Elation, and Phlogiston
1992 brought a non-virtual swarm of young and eager students to every VR event (and there were WAY too many) under the sun. Perhaps there were massive show discounts for attendees who were too young to drink legally, but members of the Virtual...
Ascension Technology SpacePad 6DOF Tracker Teardown
Six degree of freedom (x, y, z, azimuth, elevation, and roll) are hard and expensive to come by these days. Stuff like the Wii remote, iPhone, and Droid only track rotations, not fine position (yes the GPS will find you within +- 10 meters, but I'm talking...
Tearing Out the Guts of a Virtual Research VR-4 Helmet
Last week I shredded a Liquid Image MRG2.2. This week we go for the classic Virtual Research VR-4 stereoscopic head mounted display. There's a lot to love about the VR-4: wide field of view optics, adjustable interpupilary distance, coated...
Liquid Image MRG2.2 Disassembly and Potential Upgrades
I've gotten a ton of emails hurled at me about the Liquid Image MRG2.2 VR helmet. The gist of most of them is: "Hey, I love the wide field of view and how rugged the MRG2.2 is, but I wish I could upgrade the LCD resolution, and, is there a way...
Victormaxx Stuntmaster vs. PETA and a Teardown!
This totally excellent demo of the Victormaxx Stuntmaster helmet speaks for itself. Lyme disease aside, the Stuntmaster's wretched optical qualities seem overly cruel to this beast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r58xRwqH_po And...