Technology

But can I watch porn

The lack of controllers is the biggest impediment to these "Homemade VR" projects.
You might as well slap your phone in a Cardboard VR and use ALVR, and you'll be surprised at how convincing it is, but you'll quickly find there aren't many VR games worth playing with the standard gamepad.

Might as well just chuck a phone in a cardboard box

PS: for those who remember back then Relativty it became Unai then https://unison.co/ which according to LinkedIn (so take it via a grain of salt) went from 30 employees a year ago to half of that now and maybe more importantly hasn't delivered anything I'm aware of. In itself that's no big deal, startups do that, but it's definitely quite far from the initial openness debut.

The reason this reminds you of Relativity is because that's what it is with modifications.

Note that despite the lack of OpenXR support by relying on https://github.com/relativty/Relativty#14-software-setup they might support some SteamVR games. That said, again, it's ~~6DoF~~ 3DoF and outdated so which actual games would be fun, not just playable, is a different question.

Still good enough for driving and flying sims.

It seems to only have an Arduino as processor, so presumably the former i.e. you need a PC to plug this into. It seems to have highly simplified tracking compared to something like a Quest - a single Inertial Measurement Unit. All enough for sim racing which is this guy's jam, but I wonder how well the tracking stays calibrated.

Looks like it has an inertial sensor to control the view, here's there relevant bit from the article:

The parts he purchased online include two displays that max out at 2880×1440p and 90 Hz refresh rate, two lenses, an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensor, and an Arduino microcontroller board. The other parts of the headset were 3D-printed.
...
The headset features individually adjustable IPD, interchangeable faceplates, and head tracking. But it does have downsides — at full resolution, it only runs at 60 Hz. Also, it only has three degrees of freedom (3DoF), which means it tracks looking up and down, left and right, and tilting the head left and right. He explained he didn't bother equipping it with 6DoF as 3DoF was enough for his sim racing.

It relies on the Relativity VR driver so theoretically similar software support, namely https://github.com/relativty/Relativty#14-software-setup but mind you beside being 5 years old this is 3DoF, no controller or hand tracking, whereas the Quest is 6DoF, namely you can move around, not just turn your head.

This has been the best year for VR as a whole.

am a fan and vr dev... but this hasn't been the greatest year personally. what's made it a highlight for you? perhaps another perspective will help me!

If only I had a room to dedicate to it :(

Because you pay with data. Quest is the first device, where meta has full control over the Operation System, and even beyond.

You are forced to have a meta account to use it, IRCC

But mom, Meta

No, it's not a deal. It's only about learning IMHO and that's already be great.

In fact it's such a "bad" deal that I replied a bit in depth. My goal isn't to bring the project down, heck I'm even envious about being able to do all that, but rather that people curious about VR don't get confused. This is nearly a decade outdated and there are better open solutions, e.g. Lynx or even Meta Quest 2 without account IMHO.

SteamVR/Lighthouse tracking is pretty fast and accurate.

It's more or less two little screens behind fresnel lenses attached to an IMU. It's really cool, but no golf balls or anything like that. He seems to only use it for a racing rig.