Ambilight mod for the Rift

Nice! Love seeing these home-brew improvements!

Since we're presently not using the corners of the screens due to warping we might be able to repurpose some of that area for this with an update to the shader (already a good shader optimisation topic in another thread using lookup texture-mapping). I imagine to get it right though it'd need some case modding to channel the light correctly, much like the nose barrier really, with some reflective stickers/holes.

"spyro" wrote:
Aaaaaaaaaand already patented by our friend Apple: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=8,212,859.PN.&OS=PN/8,212,859&RS=PN/8,212,859
Man, the US patent system is so broken.
spyro

Wow, the fact that they were thinking about that back in 2006 makes me wonder what kind of HMD they have in their labs.

With both smart phones and MP3 players, they were actually years late to market... but when they did have a product, it defined the market segment.

Maybe the easiest solution would be to make the plastic faceplate piece that holds the lenses in place clear instead of black, perhaps with some diffusion properties..

I like the idea, But I agree, it might be better achieved with some sort of transparent diffusion / refraction, like a gel and / or mirrored surfaces. Possibly cheaper too. Just needs the illusion of peripheral vision.

That is AWESOME, I hope the guys at Oculus are seeing this and considering it for the future Rift versions. Also the suggestions of others here that are very valuable.

"msat" wrote:
Maybe the easiest solution would be to make the plastic faceplate piece that holds the lenses in place clear instead of black, perhaps with some diffusion properties..

Personally I find even the small air vents in the sides of the Rift a little distracting when using it in a bright room, so any sort of translucent material would drive me nuts. The room lighting doesn't usually match what the rift is trying to show you, so it hampers immersion a little. Ambilight, on the other hand, is in sync with what's being displayed, which serves to increase immersion. ...'course I haven't tried the hack on my Rift yet, so I'll have to take others' word for it for now.

"nsb" wrote:

"msat" wrote:
Maybe the easiest solution would be to make the plastic faceplate piece that holds the lenses in place clear instead of black, perhaps with some diffusion properties..

Personally I find even the small air vents in the sides of the Rift a little distracting when using it in a bright room, so any sort of translucent material would drive me nuts. The room lighting doesn't usually match what the rift is trying to show you, so it hampers immersion a little. Ambilight, on the other hand, is in sync with what's being displayed, which serves to increase immersion. ...'course I haven't tried the hack on my Rift yet, so I'll have to take others' word for it for now.

I was specifically referring to the part the lenses attach to that faces the screen, and not part of the goggles that blocks out external light around the periphery. The "ambient" lighting would come directly from the display itself, but all external light remains blocked.

"msat" wrote:
I was specifically referring to the part the lenses attach to that faces the screen, and not part of the goggles that blocks out external light around the periphery. The "ambient" lighting would come directly from the display itself, but all external light remains blocked.

Ohh - I get it now. Yeah, that could work.

wouldn't it be better to insert ambient color into the unused portion of the screen so instead steady black....its used as an ambient light source....

"blito3" wrote:
wouldn't it be better to insert ambient color into the unused portion of the screen so instead steady black....its used as an ambient light source....

Is this idea feasible? Has anyone tried it out or is it even possible somehow to add an average hue of the scene to the area around the warp?