Gadgetory

virtual reality is all the rage these days thanks to really cool devices like the oculus rift and Sony's project Morpheus but there's one major problem these things are pricey I'm dan Graziano in today's how-to I'm going to show you how you can create your own virtual reality headset out of a pizza box now luckily we had an office pizza party a few days ago so I have plenty of leftover boxes but you can use any kind of cardboard although a thinner piece will be easier to bend and fold we are using Google's cardboard design files to build the headset they recommend you pick up two strips of adhesive backed velcro a pair of lenses that have a 45 millimeter focal distance a neodymium ring magnet and a ceramic disc magnet all their supplies you will need include a pair of scissors glue an exacto knife or a box cutter so let's get started you will need to print out Google's cardboard design templates I recommend using a color printer as it will make things easier down the road when you have those carefully cut out the design files with a pair of scissors take your time and you want to be really accurate with this next you are going to glue the two pieces with the light numbers on top of the two pieces with the dark numbers once that's done glue the files onto the cardboard and use your exacto knife or box cutter to carefully cut them out now that we've done that it's time to fold the cardboard if you use the color printer you want to fold inwards on the red lines the flap furthest to the right should be folded over the piece to its left and glued down you will also want to glue the three eye pieces together then gently slide your lenses into the eyepiece Lotz place the ceramic disc magnet in the circle on the far right flap and the ring magnet behind it now it's time to assemble the headset place the eyepiece in the slots near the opening for your nose fold the cardboard from the right and attach each slot to the grooves in the eyepiece then fold the flap on the left up and glue it to the rest of the headset finally connect the eyepiece divider in the front of the device attach the two pieces of velcro to the corners of the top flap with other two on the top of the card bored the last thing you will want to do is download the Google cardboard app on your Android device from the Play Store then just open it place your phone in the cardboard and start looking around if you're worried your phone may fall out google recommends using a rubber band to keep it in place let's face it not all of us exceed it in art class if your cardboard is a little shaky you can use some glue or even duct tape to keep it together this is a really cool idea and with enough patience and time you could pull it off but I also recommend checking out one of the numerous easy to assemble kits that are also available these can be cheaper and remove the pain of tracking down the proper magnet and lenses to learn more about Google cardboard and for the links you need to get the job done check out my article on how to cnet.com you can also reach out to me on Twitter with any questions or comments I'm Dan Roger and for CNET thanks for watching