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How to make a Valve Index comfortable for 8+ hour sessions:
I can enjoy 8+ hours of VR without fog, without neck strain, without my
face being squashed, and without my controllers dying. Here's how you can
do the same.
- Buy a 2nd, basically identical face gasket, the plastic part that the
foam is attached to (all just to make sure you don't destroy the original
and find yourself unable to play), and cut vent holes into the top. A
few large holes are probably more effective than lots of small ones
- It's dumb that hardly any face gaskets are out there that don't have
venting both built in, and using channels with bends to prevent
direct light. My first pass at this was on a Vive, where I
sandwiched a layer of straws into the foam pad to provide air flow.
It worked well, but didn't have a lot of structural integrity
- If you expect to play mostly in a darkened room, or just aren't troubled
by light around the nose:
- Remove the nose gasket to let air into the bottom, as I did
- I actually like being able to see along my nose to check lights on
the controllers and so on
- Otherwise
- Put holes in the bottom of the gasket
- Now you have natural upward airflow through the inside, removing moisture
and making it really difficult to fog your lenses. Sideways airflow
would be great too, although needs your head to turn frequently to power
it much, hence my going vertical first
- Counterweight the front by adding most of a roll of quarters in the open
part of the frame in the back
- This removes the downforce on the face, letting you use far less pressure
to keep the front in place, and removes most of the next strain
- Play with all the charge cables connected - this happens to be vastly
easier for seated play, could be set up for room play but is more effort
the entire time
- Take care to drape something over your chair to keep cables from getting
hung up in the chair's own controls (I have an Aeron, the draping has
dramatically lowered frustration, as does keeping the arms folded all the
way towards you)
- Keep water and your smartphone nearby, but not somewhere you'll hit it.
Some people can link their phones with the VR gear, others can wear
earbuds turned to leave an open air channel,
with is compatible with off-ear headphones like the Index's.
Speakerphone in an option
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