Comfort is an important consideration is you plan to spend a lot of time immersed in virtual reality (VR). Some VR devices, including the HTC Vive, have suffered criticism for its offered level of comfort. SynergyWiz is offering a potential solution by offering a way to 3D print your own HTC Vive comfort headstrap.
When you are spending hours with two screens and sophisticated electronics strapped to your face, it is vital to get the comfort, fit and balance right, or suffer potential consequences such as muscle spasms, headaches and eye strain. While HTC Vive offers its own comfort strap in the form of the Deluxe Audio Strap, which comes with built-in headphones, some might object to the $99.99 (USD) price tag.
This is where SynergyWiz and its product, the rEvolve, comes in. Originally launched via Kickstarter early in 2017, the rEvolve was created to be a lower-cost solution to provide better for an comfort to HTC Vive users. The company raised over six times its initial Kickstarter funding goal, and has been shipping rEvolve units to backers for several months.
Now SynergyWiz has gone a step further and made the raw files for 3D printing the rEvolve strap available to all, along with a video showing users how to assemble the unit once 3D printing is complete. The video is available to view below.
John Toner, CEO of SynergyWiz stated, “We believe VR as a platform needs all the support it can get during this initial growth period. The more people that experience quality comfortable convenient virtual reality the faster the industry will move forward to the holodeck experiences we all want. In addition to making comfortable and convenient VR more ubiquitous, releasing these files will allow others to further enhance the rEvolve’s design for the Vive and other HMDs/platforms. With the end goal of improving head mounted displays in general moving forward.”
The files are available to download from the Thingiverse website. For users who are unable to source the springs and padding required, SynergyWiz are selling them for $25 on its website.
VRFocus will continue to report on new innovations in the VR industry.