DIY VR: How to Make Your Own Headset and Why You Probably Won’t Want to Do It

But sensor drift and headset comfort were real issues. Without a proper solution for routing the cables, the headset constantly pulled to the side and, despite the padding, smashed my nose and cheeks.

I’ve participated in multi-hour endurance races with several consumer VR headsets. After 15 minutes into this one, I was ready to quit.

Final thoughts and future upgrades

My total expense for this project was $239.93. But that includes the extra $62 I had to spend on a second set of screens. Avoid this costly blunder, and you’re looking at around $180 in components.

That’s about half the cost of a Meta Quest 3S, one of the cheapest headsets on the market today. This is a substantial saving, but I would definitely recommend paying extra for most people. The tracking issues in my headset are maddening, the image quality is mediocre at best, and it’s easily the least comfortable headset I’ve ever worn.

But all this can be fixed. Some projects use a MinIMU-9 IMU, which appears much more accurate and is less likely to be tampered with, but it is also much more expensive at $35. You can also upgrade to higher quality LCD screens or even tiny OLED panels that offer all the color and contrast you could want. There are options for built-in batteries, wireless adapters, and of course, you can spend as much time as you want designing an ultra-comfortable case for it all.

But even if you ignore the time commitment, once you start adding those upgrades, you’re not far off the cost of this Quest, a far-from-perfect headset that still works effortlessly and comfortably right out of the box.

As always with these projects, it depends on what you want. If you just want a cheap, simple, and reliable headset for your next-gen immersive gaming solution, this probably isn’t the one.

If, however, you want a fun project that will help you appreciate the industrial design required to create a beautiful and comfortable wearable device, this could be it. I learned a lot and, despite the frustrations, I am glad I embarked on this journey.

That said, while I’ll continue tinkering and probably make a few more improvements to this thing, I don’t see it replacing my other headset for regular racing duties, no matter how outdated it may be.