Make Your Own Cardboard VR GogglesMake Your Own Cardboard VR Goggles

Work From Home Project: Follow Volkswagen's step-by-step directions for DIY VR goggles to view the company's immersive manufacturing video.

Dan Carney, Senior Editor

January 10, 2023

2 Min Read
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DIY cardboard virtual reality goggles.Adobe Stock

Volkswagen knows you're looking for things to do while practicing social distancing. So the company issued instructions for how to make your own virtual reality (VR) goggles from cardboard.

And they've provided suitable immersive video to watch, so when you're done making your project, you can use the new goggles to watch Volkswagen build it ID.3 electric vehicle.VW20VR20Goggles201_0_0_0_0_0.png

WHAT YOU’LL NEED 

  1. VR headset cardboard template

  2. Shoe box or pizza box

  3. Printer

  4. Scissors

  5. Syringe or plastic straw

  6. Plastic water bottle

  7. Xacto knife

  8. Glue gun or epoxy

  9. Rubber band

  10. Smartphone

HOW IT WORKS

In this tutorial, we will first make the homemade lens for the DIY VR headset. Later you will have to make the cardboard enclosure using the printable templates provided here. The lens used in these VR headsets helps to reduce the least distance of distinct vision and allows us to see the screen of our smartphone clearly from a few centimeters away.

STEP 1 - LENSES

  1. Find a water or plastic bottle with a good curvature and cut a 25mm diameter circle out using scissors. Make and cut at least 4 of these—you’ll need 2 pcs together to create a single biconvex lens.

  2. Seal all the circumference sides of the shape with glue and insert your straw. (Make sure not to get it on the lens itself, just the circumference).

  3. Wait for the glue to dry and add water to the end of the straw to fill up your lens. After the lens is full, cut the straw and glue the ends together to form a full seal.

  4. Repeat this process for the second lens.

Related:How Honda VR Sped Development of New Models

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STEP 2 - CARDBOARD 

  1. Download the headset template here.

  2. Print the template out.

  3. Glue the template to your pizza or shoe box.

  4. Using the Xacto Knife, cut the template out.

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STEP 3 - ASSEMBLY

  1. Place the pair of lenses you made earlier onto the eye slot of the assembled VR headset. You can use the slots on the cardboard enclosure to place it firmly on the VR headset.

  2. Place your phone into the phone area and close the back.

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WATCH THE VW ID.3 GET BUILT RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES!

Learn how the Volkswagen MEB-based vehicles were conceived in the factory and explore what it takes to construct the new VW ID.3 in 6 unique experiences!

About the Author

Dan Carney

Senior Editor, Design News

Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.

A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.

Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.

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He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.

He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.

He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.

He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.

Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.

He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers

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