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1Step 1
Remove the large plastic visor from the video glasses.
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2Step 2
Disassemble the primary unit of the video glasses, which now resembles a black plastic bar.
You should end up with two boards connected by a thin-film ribbon cable, one of which is connected to another board (containing a USB-like plug) connected by a small white socket and a bunch of multi-colored wire. Each of the larger square boards should contain a display on the bottom, probably with plastic spacers. Remove and discard the spacers (which will probably be screwed in), and remove the display that lacks the white plastic socket.
You should also end up with two small black lens housings with lenses in them, and a black plastic backing. -
3Step 3
Disassemble the primary unit of the video glasses, which now resembles a black plastic bar.
You should end up with two boards connected by a thin-film ribbon cable, one of which is connected to another board (containing a USB-like plug) connected by a small white socket and a bunch of multi-colored wire. Each of the larger square boards should contain a display on the bottom, probably with plastic spacers. Remove and discard the spacers (which will probably be screwed in), and remove the display that lacks the white plastic socket.
You should also end up with two small black lens housings with lenses in them, and a black plastic backing. -
4Step 4
The board with the USB-like connector on it will be connected to the colored wires via surface-mount solder on top of vias. This is a really bad thing for the kind of torque you are likely to put on this connector board.
So, desolder these wires using solder wick, put them through the vias, and re-solder them on the other side to give the connection a little more mechanical integrity. -
5Step 5
Unscrew one of the threaded caps on the goggles and remove the clear plastic pane. (Your pair may have a silvered or coloured glass pane on top; if so, remove this as well but do not drill into it -- discard it or keep it as backup for the other side.)
In approximately the centre of the pane, mark out the edges of the display. You will be screwing the display board directly into this pane. You may want to take a needle, knife, or hand drill with a small bit in order to get it started -- but avoid poking or drilling a hole all the way through. Position the display and screw it in until about a millimetre of tip pokes through the other side. -
6Step 6
Take a lens housing. Remove the lens and flip it over, then clip it to the other side of the housing. Put a thin layer of superglue along the edge of the lens housing (on the opposite side from the lens itself) and place it firmly atop the pane, on the opposite side from where the display is mounted. You may need to shift it slightly to one side in order to avoid the screws.
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7Step 7
Take the glass pane (or if you don't have one, the other plastic pane) and trace it on some thin cardboard or paper, then cut it out. This will be a mask for blocking out light. Mark and cut out the places on this mask where the display will be. Cover both sides with black electrical tape, and place it on the pane to which your display and lens are attached.
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8Step 8
On the board containing the USB-like connector, on the edge opposite the connector whose wires you have resoldered, fold a piece of velcro. Connect the connector and then position a piece of velcro of the opposite type on top of your mask based on where the connector can comfortably reach. This connector will jut out past the edge of the pane no matter where you place it. Once you have placed this velcro, disconnect and remove the board, then use the threaded plastic cap to hold the pane onto the goggle body, trying to keep the display 'right side up'. Once it is in, re-attach the board.
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9Step 9
On the raspberry pi, you may need to affix the battery pack to the pi. I recommend a rubber belt (of the variety used in small vacuum cleaners); however, several rubber bands will do.
I recommend taking some foam and cutting a rectangular hole slightly smaller than the width and thickness of an SD card in it, then shoving the protruding end of the SD card in your pi into it, in order to prevent pressure on the card from damaging the socket.
Because the display is fairly low resolution, I recommend using a tiling window manager (I use awesome) and setting the default font size high (32 or 64, possibly). Also, a high contrast color scheme with very little blue would be a good idea (to minimize eye strain -- I use amber on black, but green or red on black would also be acceptable).I also recommend wrapping the cables that go between the display and the pi with spiral wrap, if you have any, and threading them beneath your clothing. Cables like to get caught on things, and none of the components in this project are quite cheap enough to be entirely disposable.
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10Step 10
============= Instructions on haptic output coming soon ===========
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