This is a project that had been eating away at me for a bit, sitting in the back of my mind.
It's a computer that fit's perfectly underneath an Apple Magic Keyboard, and has a compartment to store peripherals like a dongle or small mouse. It has no display, instead opting for XR display glasses.
The internals are the main board, cooler, and battery from a Steam Deck OLED. I bought the parts separately rather than gutting a perfectly good one.
The link is to the CAD files. I decided to open source it as I explore building a better one.
Feel free to jump straight to that, here's the origin story for anyone interested:
I started using the XREAL glasses a few months ago. they're great, easily my favorite "XR" product. It's built around the one killer app of XR, a virtual display. shedding all non-essential hardware into a small, lightweight package.
but I hate the redundancy. Whatever device I'm using it with, the built in screen goes unused. In parallel, I've also found myself extremely disappointed in each product calling itself a "spatial computer" despite being nothing but an overweight iPad for your face.
I wanted a real computer designed to be used with these glasses, and in the smallest package I could possibly achieve.
So I grabbed an actual iPad, downloaded Shapr3D and got to work. My iteration process involved jumping back and forth between my iPad and a 3D printer. I went through roughly 15 failed iterations getting the screw mounts, airflow, and ergonomics just right.
The final result is what I believe to be a true spatial computer. I've been daily driving and I'm pretty happy with the experience. It's currently running Ubuntu 24, but I may switch back to Steam OS, given it's better optimized for the hardware.
You should put at least the first three sentences from your comment into the project's readme.md file as I had no idea what a 'spatial display' or XREAL is for that matter.
I've been using the Viture XR Pro glasses and they're fine for occasional PC use but I don't like them enough to use a daily driver for work.
It's great for gaming and movies as you say, and also for adopting a better posture when using a laptop in a cramped space like a train or airline seat. But even with the individual focus wheels for each eye, it doesn't feel sharp enough at 1080p to replace a 24" or 27" screen on a standard desk layout.
If I had the option of one 24" 1080p monitor on my desk or XR glasses to use for 8-10 hours of thoughtful work, I would choose the monitor.
Regarding eye strain or fatigue, I don't notice any. The fact that the projected display appears to be 3-4m away probably helps a lot with that.
They list three different vendors on the site for prescription inserts (one per region), and there are other vendors who offer them, too. The partnered US vendor had them listed at $150 but I think some of the other options are cheaper.
I've seen review from a guy who started losing sight with xreal glasses after a month of daily use (got better a week+ after he stopped) so I would only pay attention to long term users...
Thank you very much for sharing the files and your experience!
I just got my first XR glasses, Xreal One Pro, and had your link bookmarked to do something similar. I am very impressed with these glasses.
Looking through ifixit I can't find the Steam Deck's mainboard. Where did you find it?
I am interested in a productized version - but only with x64 boards like the Steam Deck or one of the Framework mainboards. I don't want to deal with 3D printing and all that. The latter are larger than the Steam Deck, though. No battery for me though: I would use it after work, when I am near an outlet anyway.
This is very cool! Love to see the Commodore 64 style of keyboard computer come back.
I got the Viture Pro recently and this would be fun to add to that. Ultimately I think this is a very nice form factor both for portable use with XR glasses, and for use with a USB-C dock at home. The XR glasses on the market are still a bit rough, but the nice thing about this kind of setup is that you can replace the computer and the glasses independently, so as the glasses improve (especially looking forward to glasses with high-quality waveguides) you can upgrade.
Ay love it. There’s quite a few similar ideas on r/cyberdeck. I just wasn’t satisfied with their look. I wanted something very clean. Something that blends in and could theoretically be used on a plane without drawing too much attention, but still nice to look at.
That guy commented in the Reddit thread I posted and I’m hoping to collab with him on the framework version if he’s down.
I’ve been hoping to see PCs in a proper cyberdeck form factor for years now, so it’s great to see them start to emerge. One thing I would suggest that creators consider is building in a smartphone or small-tablet capacitive-touch display to the right (or left) of the keyboard. That could serve as a trackpad while in VR/AR while out of VR it could act as a notification screen, a pinch monitor if the HMD is not working or not available, and so on.
That's really cool. I don't think you should support another keyboard, there may be better ones from a certain POV but I don't think there's a better one that's not significantly thicker and any keyboard options will quickly multiply complexity with any SBC/computing options. You will go down a rabbit hole if you start taking requests here. I think steamdeck internals plus rpi5 plus latest framework internals with no other configs is ambitious but not too ambitious.
My hobby is miniaturizing everything. If I were to fork this project (and I would love to after about 10 other projects are complete), I would think about selecting one good dongle, "shucking" it any other needed things, integrating them, and then finding the minimum volume to fit my preferred travel controller[1] and preferred travel mouse[2]. Then, I would consider customizing the housings of those things to be even slimmer without customizing any electronics except for maybe making sure everything gets charged while stowed. I would also consider minor mods to the keyboard to get rid of the bulk of the usbc cable. Pogo pins plus some 3D printing should do the trick.
I’m glad you say that because I actually think the Magic Keyboard is good. Obviously if I made a product version I’d need to source an original keyboard, but I’d try to stick to something similar.
Originally I was going to use my HHKB studio, but opted for the Magic Keyboard for the slimmer design and the fact that there’s at least one in every school, office, or other institution across the US.
> Primarily out of frustration. The dominant players in XR keep promoting their hardware as “computers”, when really they’re an iPad for your face. The most you can do is browse the web, play games, and consume content. They’re overweight and over constrained.
Also if anyone is looking for a full-sized portable keyboard, I suggest https://www.protoarc.com/products/xk01-tri-fold-bluetooth-ke... which is my primary keyboard when I'm working remotely on my tablet. It is "pocket-sized" for certain definitions of "pocket".
I was excited about termux until about 3 years ago, when I saw that the app needed to be compiled against an ancient Android API version. Google seems indifferent to bricking this project... Today it's still breaking Fdroid updates:
So I’ve actually been in XR for nearly a decade now. So I’ve tried every version of “dev in XR” I even spent the last 2 years trying to build an XR native dev platform.
The feedback was always “this is too heavy” for all devices excluding XREAL.
Also I wanted a device that didn’t feel like a hack. Something tailored to the experience.
I am very interested in this setup as well. I feel Bigscreen Beyond 2[0] has a very good balance of size and weight. But its VR and not AR. I can't wait to create something that does computing in VR well. Something that Simlula VR[1] has been trying for a while now
That makes sense. Your compute puck based design is much more ergonomic. And if you combine it with something like SCOTTeVEST , you have a pretty good mobile XR form factor. Keep up the good work :)
It might be that your pupillary distance is bigger than what the viture can handle. I have a pair of crap glasses I'm playing around with, and supposedly you can get custom lenses that account for your pupillary distance.
I was thinking of entirely removing the screen on my Framework, and using the Xreal Air instead. This is a really cool build, and it's inspired me to give the screenectomy a shot! I just hope I don't break anything.
Break everything! It’s how you learn to fix it. Just the other day I was in a full on panic having disassembled my toilet thinking a leak was “an easy fix.” It wasn’t, but I got it done.
Over the past few years, I’ve seen more and more people make headless laptop variations. I think this is probably a better approach than the OP, but it’s mainly about what kind of form factor you want (and how much you want to tinker!). Here is one such example:
It is completely a personal preference, but I think you can get closer to a "daily driver" experience with a beheaded laptop. Two reasons: 1) you'll get better performance. This would be a moot point if you were using a Framework motherboard (or the Steam board was more widely available). 2) form factor. I would prefer to carry around a thinner slate computer over a thicker lunchbox computer. This is just personal preference.
For most people though, I think adapting an existing laptop is an easier project than what you've been able to accomplish. Don't get me wrong - I'm impressed. And I also really like the idea of a headless computer with AR glasses as the display. I think it's a use-case that needs to be taken seriously.
Totally agree. I’m doing the due diligence to see if I can turn this into a real product. It’s gotten enough attention to give it some serious thought as a small batch product.
If I do, it would be with a custom board which would help shave down the size more considerably.
I wonder if you could replace the display with just more batteries, that way you can still close up the laptop for travel while having a lot longer battery life.
It should be straightforward! The only gotchas are if you want to preserve Wi-Fi. The antenna module lives in the lid assembly, so you either need to move it or use other antennas.
This is super nice as it's a native unencumbered linux environment.
I recently blogged about trying to do web development on the Quest 3, and although it kind of works, it's way more hacky (and performance is still lacking). The nice thing however about the Quest, is still being able to leverage virtual window placement in the space around you vs. the fixed 2d monitor approach here.
The best of a bad bunch. These products are still far from amazing, moreso if you have a picky eye for clarity. And if you need the brightness higher, overheating becomes a problem.
not long ago there was a post by a user also using glasses -- 85% sure they're the same ones -- but the goal was to replace a laptop display a fuller size one. I like that this project replaces the laptop with a SBC. I spent a decade and a half wishing that SBC would be a Raspberry Pi but ... welp, better late than never
The coming of AR glasses has finally opened the market for "cyberdecks". I don't think they will be massively popular, but there is definitely an audience among geeks who travel a lot. I would totally buy one to pair with my XREAL One glasses.
The problem will be finding the right scale. LingLong had a crack with a limited kickstarter run, but they don't seem interested in following up with sustained mass-production.
It’s quite good! I have not the one’s and the one pros. The pros are a pretty noticeable leap in clarity and FOV in my experience, and the screen is as readable as any other 1080p monitor.
Sometimes people break their MacBook screens, and people sometimes turn them into "headless MacBooks". I've been wanting to get my hand on a cheap "headless MacBook" and add XREAL glasses to it!
Out here trying to steal my thunder. Not today (or yesterday) sir!
But seriously appreciate the enthusiasm to share it. This was meant to be a small side project for myself and it blew up. Glad other people are getting a kick out of it.
Probably because the AR/XR glasses are not yet at a stage where they could be used by the general populace.
I have Viture XR Pro, the edges are still blurry and even though glasses have a miopia adjustment it has been difficult for me to get a clear image, not to mention the issues of IPD. Having a display at arms length still has many advantages over the face mounted displays.
That being said, as someone who feels the need to wipe any and every speck of dust off the display, the glasses have resolved that issue, it's just that they get heavy and painful after just a few hours of use.
In my opinion, we're not there yet, but I'm very optimistic for the future.
Valve already failed with Steam Machines. There's not a compelling enough reason for them to split production of the Deck into two divergent streams with lesser economies of scale.
Also, 'just' the deck in a box still needs the same regulatory approval.
Hardware development still has fundamental physical constraints that software doesn't - material costs, manufacturing complexity, and safety requirements create barriers that CAD and 3D printing alone can't overcome.
I noted in a different discussion here that I'm about to the point where my next computer is going to be a Raspberry Pi 500 w/ a second gen. Wacom One 13 display w/ stylus and touch and a battery, for which assemblage I'll make a folding tablet shell...
Or, maybe it will be a shell/case for the Pilet which I'll be getting from Kickstarter.
Development, yes. Production, no. That's really where the rubber meets the road. Upfront costs, profit margins, and scaling challenges, are not comparable.
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