HTC Vive pro lens mod

Dear fellow RacingCube fans,

I'd like to share my experiance with upgrading the original Vive fresnel lenses with Samsung Gear VR glas lenses.

Unfortunately I've got scratches on my original Vive lenses, so I had to think how to fix it. While searching the internet I found some interesting tutorials for a "lens upgrade"

As I'm always open to adaptions / improvements I went to go that way.

Those are the threads I mainly used

Lense-adapter STL File for 3D print: (use the correct one!)

"https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2837804"

More info about lense swap tutorial on Reddit:

"https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/8c4ggr/gear_vr_lens_mod_for_the_htc_vive_review_and_guide/"

Software to adapt viewgeometry and guide

"https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/86uwsf/gearvr_to_vive_lens_adapters/dwdigxa/"

Some experiances / tipps from my side:

For cleaning use a camera air dust blower - ~10€

For the lens swap attach the head set upside down (i.e. at the ceiling)

I used a guitar plectrum to remove the original lenses

Clean the lenses well before installing

Avoid any dust, you will see everything

As I do not own a 3D printer, I checked out some 3D print groups on facebook and got the adapters for ~10€

I bought a used Samsung GEAR VR model 324 for 20€

How is the result:

There is NO higher resolution

The glas lenses do have a more clear view than the fresnel ones, see pics

There will be a small barrel effect, you will see it if you have a flat element in 3D like the Steam or game menue and you move your head. But it not disturbing or visible in 3D enviroments like playing in a game.

Less ghost lights

If I had to replace my Vive, I would upgrade to GEAR VR lenses again.

Michael