Parts List - RamesTheGeneric/ProjectBabble GitHub Wiki

Notes:

Although any camera can be used with Babble, the tracking quality can vary greatly depending on a variety of factors such as lighting, camera angle, camera framing, and field of view. If you decide to build something with your own components, please keep these notes of a “good image” in mind.

A good image should have the following

  • Plenty of even lighting on the face that doesn’t change from the environment (Visible or Infrared)
  • Balanced field of view with an acceptable amount of distortion (120/130 deg)
  • Camera is horizontal with the mouth
  • Little to no artifacts (noise, strobing, etc.)

We recommend esp32 based openiris trackers with 120-160 degree lenses. (Taken straight from the ETVR docs :3)

ESP setup options:

There are two primary categories of trackers supported: wireless and wired. It's super important that you really look at all your options and consider your use case before making a decision.

Option 1: Wireless over WiFi 2.4 GHz

This offers a good starting point as the ESP boards are cheaper than wired capable trackers. However, they can be a bit more temperamental and if you are using a wired headset, they start to make less sense. Pros:

  • Wider user adoption and greater support
  • Low weight, less cables, easier to manage

Cons:

  • Requires external antennas for optimal streaming quality
  • Requires WiFi 2.4 GHz router or access point in reasonable proximity
  • Risk of radio interference with FBT and other WiFi 2.4 GHz devices
  • ESP32-CAM uses more power and heats up due to radio module power needs

Option 2: Wired over USB Serial (in beta)

This is our latest setup recommended for users with wired headsets such as the Valve Index. Pros:

  • Much better performance and higher framerates up to 70 FPS with lower latency
  • No conflicts with advanced FBT setups such as Vive or Tundra Trackers
  • Can be wireless or wired
  • Less soldering required

Cons:

  • Requires USB port i.e. on Valve Index and USB hub mounted on your headset
  • Can be more costly

Required parts

With that in mind, here are the required parts for the setup.

Tracker boards:

Recommended

  • 1x XIAO ESP32-S3 Sense Modules Very small size, wireless and wired support, does not require an additional programmer or separate antennas: SeedStudio

Alternatively:

  • 1x Freenove ESP 32-S3 WROOM Much larger, price may be higher than the XIAOs, supports wired and wireless as well, does not need a separate programmer, does not support a separate antenna. Amazon

A cheaper, wireless only alternative:

  • 1x ESPCAM32 Modules - They are cheaper, requires a separate programmer board, supports only wireless streaming and may require some soldering for attaching separate antennas: AliExpress This board also requires a special programmer board in order to flash the firmware. You'll need only one: AliExpress for just programmers or Amazon for 3 ESP32-Cams and programmers without the proper cameras

  • 1x External antennas for ESPs Required if you're running vive/tundra full body tracking or having issues with streaming. See the full build guide on how to configure the ESP board for antenna use. Small: AliExpress Large: AliExpress Amazon

Cameras

Camera modules:

The cameras that come with the boards can work, they however have an IR filter inside which will need to be removed if you use infrared lighting. The filter can be removed, but doing so may break your cameras. Here's how to do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYH-FWvDbDc

If you decide to remove the filter, wear eye protection while doing so, the removal of the filter will shatter it.

  • 1x OV2640 160° FOV IR / Night vers (850nm) (In firmware cropping recommended) AliExpress

Alternatively:

  • 1x OV2640 120° FOV (Requires manual ir filter removal) AliEXpress

Alternatively:

USB Hubs - for if you are building the wired version

  • 1x USB 3.0+ hub The hub needs to support MTT if you wish to use other high bandwidth devices with the ESPs. STT hubs can work if they are only used with other ESPs (Babble + ETVR). Here is a hub that supports MTT and is not expensive Amazon

Ensure that it is of good quality, lightweight, compact in size, and I suggest a minimum of three ports - one for the face tracker and two for ESP32-S3 boards. Ensure that you acquire appropriate USB-A to USB-C adapters wherever required. For example the Valve Index only has one USB-A port. Such adapter Amazon.

  • 1x USB C cables (as short as possible) to connect both ESPs As the ESP32-S3 has USB-C connectors, you may require some USB-C to USB-A cables depending on your USB hub.

Wires and adapters

If you are soldering and using custom cables:

Lighting

For Babble you can use Infrared or visible light. Infrared is less distracting as you can’t see the light but it is susceptible to flicker from base stations if it’s not bright enough. Visible is immune to base station flicker but can potentially be distracting if your headset doesn’t block light too well.
Recommended: Sourcing ETVR V3 LED Parts:

  • 2x Unfocused SMD IR emitters NOTE The smaller ones can not be soldered at temps above 245C or they will burn. Low temp solder is recommended. (Recommended) from LCSC here. (Alternative) from Digikey here. The difference between them is the ones from LCSC are rated for lower power, which means in the event of a short or mishap they should be safer, as well as being smaller in footprint, hence why they are recommended.

  • 2x IR emitter PCBs (highly recommended) Gerber files and schematics located here.

  • 2x 80 ohm 1206 SMD resistors for IR emitters (If you are not using PCBs for the emitters then buying regular through-hole resistors is acceptable.) NOTE: The resistance is significantly less than what would be used for eyetracking so we can run the LEDs at a higher power. 357 ohm Digikey here 348 ohm LCSC here

Visible Alternative:

  • 1x WS2812B RGB aRGB LED (Visible Light) AliExpress This ensures you get the correct IR emitter parts.
  • 1x Wire to power IR emitters 34 AWG AliExpress

3D Printed Mounts

Mounts with a ★ next to them are the recommended mounts for the respected hmd. This is based on user feedback on what works best for most people.

Quest 2

Pico 4

Valve Index

General ESP Mounts

  • Add Remixed Xiao case
  • Add short arm for futurabeast mount