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billyd
Up and Coming
February 27, 2014

Oculus Rift and prescription lenses

I have successfully installed my prescription (moderate astigmatism) into the Rift.

It is very simple to do. Order your distance prescription only, no bifocal or varilux, and get them cut to 43mm dia. Also it's helpful if you have the optometrist cut small notches around the perimeter to help locate the horizontal/vertical orientation. So a notch at 0, 90 and 180 degrees is best, to let you know where the top and sides are. You need the top because of your pupil distance (see below).

Place the lenses inside the A cup, they will come to rest against the small tabs located inside the cup.

After orienting them carefully to make sure the axes are correct, glue them in place. I used Amazing Goop. Just four dabs per lens. Keep the glue out of the line of sight, there is plenty of room though, so this is not difficult. I used vinyl electrical tape to temporarily hold the lenses in place while checking alignment and gluing.

Also make sure when the optometrist cuts the lenses that they take measurements off the Rift, so they can account for your pupil distance, since the IPD is not mechanically adjustable (the lens mounts are a fixed horizontal distance, you need to get your pupil distance correct taking the Rift's lens distance into account).

This process works amazingly well. I now can use my Rift without glasses and get the full immersion. And it is as clear as when I wear my glasses.

    22 replies

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    billydAuthor
    Up and Coming
    March 1, 2014
    "rupy" wrote:
    Wow, ok, what did you do the night before?



    LOL I did do a lot of drinking in those days. I guess there's some truth to drinking yourself blind. :D
    cleverusername
    Up and Coming
    March 1, 2014
    Just saw the eye doc a few days ago! Damn, wish I had read this thread first. Definitely hope on dk2 or cv1 there is some cheap way to add most efficient lenses personalized to all our deficiencies. As for going blind, Geordi's mom told him not to do something (involving VR porn) and he didn't listen, but before Geordi, There was spock!

    mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4123 I am looking into that LEEP VR I lack practical 3d knowledge, I have found some good links, but I am not sure if they are the ones you were talking about. Would you mind direct linking me to them? :oops:
    Khameleon21
    Participant
    March 25, 2014
    I was looking into a solution for this as well. I just end up wearing my contacts when I use the rift and use the A cup. My question is the A cup already magnifies. Since the A cup is for normal vision users, wouldn't that mean the lens that you get made for the rift should have the added magnification of the A cup.

    The way I see it if I get put my px on a lens and look at the rift, it would be the same as a person with 20/20 vision using no lenses. Does that make sense? I could see just using our px as a lens if people with 20/20 uncorrected used no lens with the rift. Any thoughts?

    Thanks

    Khameleon21
    reBoot185
    Up and Coming
    March 26, 2014
    i was using my external corrective lenses and the C cups with the goggles extended from the face as much as possible and hoping to not scratch either. now i can not worry about the quantity of lenses sent with my DK2 in hopes of having an extra camera or preferably the updated camera and two extra IR filters for additional cameras.

    the b cups helped me not have the "is this A cup going to touch my eye ball? has it touched other people's eye fluids before??" feelings..


    THANKS AGAIN.. THIS IS LIKE FINDING CRACKER JACK WITHOUT NUTS IN IT (and being allergic to nuts) ;)
    bluegoon
    New Participant
    April 2, 2014
    There has to be a solution without using too many interchangeable parts. You have to consider the general consumer, too many gadgets are going to scare off the herds.

    Can you slant the existing infrastructure to accommodate reading pairs?
    billydAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 11, 2014
    "Khameleon21" wrote:
    I was looking into a solution for this as well. I just end up wearing my contacts when I use the rift and use the A cup. My question is the A cup already magnifies. Since the A cup is for normal vision users, wouldn't that mean the lens that you get made for the rift should have the added magnification of the A cup.

    The way I see it if I get put my px on a lens and look at the rift, it would be the same as a person with 20/20 vision using no lenses. Does that make sense? I could see just using our px as a lens if people with 20/20 uncorrected used no lens with the rift. Any thoughts?

    Thanks

    Khameleon21



    Keep in mind, what I did (and others) was to add a prescription lens to the existing magnifier (between the original magnifying lens and the screen). Not replace it.
    billydAuthor
    Up and Coming
    April 11, 2014
    "bluegoon" wrote:
    There has to be a solution without using too many interchangeable parts. You have to consider the general consumer, too many gadgets are going to scare off the herds.

    Can you slant the existing infrastructure to accommodate reading pairs?



    Ideally the consumer version would come with a pair of blank cups, ready to accept prescription lenses (with the necessary magnification added in), with instructions to the lens maker on how to properly fit them.
    epengr
    Participant
    July 30, 2014
    I'm awaiting my DK2 and anticipating a mod like this for my astigmatism (I find contacts horrible for astigmatism...)

    I emailed Zenni to see if they could supply lenses cheap, and they don't sell them separately, but for $9.95 you can order a pair of 550021 or 220012 which have 43 mm diameter round lenses and pop them out. AR coating is another $4.95 I think? Just mark "up" yourself before removing from the frame and you're set.
    tbsn
    New Participant
    July 31, 2014
    Lenses with the previously mentioned diameter of 43mm and 37mm will only fit into the DK1 cups. The DK2 cups are a bit larger. I measured ~52,2mm at the outer rim.
    mariom
    Up and Coming
    August 1, 2014
    That is a cool mod. However, in doing these, you make the lenses unusable to somebody who doesn't have the same eye problems as you. Thus making it impossible to show the rift with your friends or anyone else :P It's cool if you have an extra DK2 or extra lenses, or don't intend on sharing, but otherwise I don't like the idea of permanently modding the lenses.
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