Also, if you're anything like me, you didn't have the $300 to spend on the DK1's kickstater. And you also don't have the $350 to plunk down on the DK2 preorder.
So what do we do? DIY if course!
The first stop should be where the rift originated, MTBS3D.com. People have a few different approaches here. Some choose to make their own Rift from scratch, the Nova is a great example. Downsides? It might just so happen to look like plastic, circuit board, and a cheap welder's mask all glued together. Because that's what it is. It's also heavy and will cost around $150 plus hours in construction and tweaking. I could not convince myself to drop $150 that could be put towards the real deal, DK2 or a future Consumer Version. Moving on.
It seems for any technological problem, if you wait long enough, Google will solve it. They did just that by releasing the very DIY Cardboard. This is so DIY they didn't even release a kit. They give detailed instructions and links where to purchase the materials, then you're on your own. Of course, eager entrepreneurs jumped on the opportunity and began releasing full kits for a premium price on Amazon. Still, $20 for a 3D headset is pretty freakin good!
So that's it right? The easiest, cheapest option with no drawbacks or shortcomings whatsoever. Wrong! Google, of course, made the Cardboard Android only. Not a huge deal, an iPhone will squeeze in there. But before my parts even arrived in the mail, I spotted an even better solution on a random shopping trip to Ollie's Bargain Outlet. I give you, the Hasbro MY3D!
Apparently Hasbro tried to pin down the 3D headset market for kids and missed. I have no idea how. The stock app UI is good and even the demo has decent content (games and movie trailers). The MY3D is well built, it feels like it could easily survive a fall but is not too heavy to strap to your head. Retractable pins allow swapping trays to perfectly fit your iPhone/iPod touch. It even has a rubber bumper to prop it at an angle off the table so you can operate it hands-free. Available on Amazon for under $7, this checks all the boxes! Poor marketing is all I can think of for what doomed its fate. Either way, it no longer fits modern devices so it is on clearance just about everywhere. And who doesn't have an older iPhone gathering dust and begging to be useful once again!?
The only question left is what do you do for content? The Cardboard apps are Android-only. MY3D is all but abandoned. There seems to be some iOS apps being cranked out by devs but they are few and far between. Besides, we don't care about mobile apps, we want 3D PC gaming!
Enter Splashtop. I found out about splashtop on Reddit a year or two ago. A Redditor was bragging about his mobile gaming solution that encompassed a desktop, an iPad, a XBOX controller, and Splashtop. Using the controller as input, he claimed he could control the desktop and have the video stream pushed back to the iPad wirelessly. And he claimed it was playable. For science, I downloaded the Splashtop app on my iPad and ran through a few different games to test the latency. I was surprised at how playable the games were, there was minimal delay between my inputs and the game's response. I didn't have a huge need to game from anywhere other than my desk, so I uninstalled the program and filed it under "neat". Until now!
I present my solution to the DIY Rift: MY3D + iPod Touch 3G + Splashtop
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