Unveiling a Blast from the Past: The Retro VR Headset with a Twist!
In a bold move, the enigmatic maker 'dooglehead' has crafted what they call a 'terrible' VR headset, but with a unique twist that takes us back to the roots of this technology. Instead of the standard high-res LCD or OLED displays, this headset employs the vintage cathode-ray tubes (CRTs) - a technology that dominated the display scene for decades.
But here's where it gets controversial... Dooglehead's inspiration stems from a love for gaming on CRTs, envisioning a virtual world where everything is CRT-drawn. A bold choice, considering CRTs are bulky, heavy, and not exactly wearable. Yet, they offer benefits over modern flat panels in many aspects.
CRTs work by firing electron beams at phosphor-coated glass, creating a glowing image. This process, repeated 50 times a second, results in a stable picture. Despite their advantages, CRTs were rarely used in early VR headsets due to their weight and size.
And this is the part most people miss... Dooglehead has successfully built a VR headset using CRTs! The headset, currently housed in a temporary cardboard case, utilizes 2.7-inch CRTs from Sony's Watchman portable TVs. An FPGA splits the HDMI signal into two analog signals for each display. Commercial trackers monitor the wearer's head position, and everything is powered via USB.
The displays are black-and-white, but remarkably responsive. At 544 grams, it's not as heavy as one might expect. Dooglehead admits their expectations were low, but they were pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
Check out the video above and dooglehead's YouTube channel for more details. But beware! Uncased CRTs expose extremely high voltages, so proceed with caution if you're thinking of building your own.
So, what do you think? Is this a brilliant throwback or a bold misstep? We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
