Excitement is building over the new Valve Index. The main question most people have is:

What graphics card do I need?

Valve recommends the NVIDIA 1070 but if you have a NVIDIA 970 or AMD RX480 you should meet the minimum requirement.

I would recommend the EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 as a good cost effective card. It meets the recommended requirement and won’t break the bank.

You can also consider NVIDIA 1080s but these get very expensive, very quickly!

If you already have a gaming PC you’re probably very close to meeting the minimum requirements. The most common required upgrade is the graphics card.

VR creates a lot of problems when trying to maintain a tidy office.  The Rift headset is somewhat large and not easy to store. Untamed, it will eat up a lot of desk space with the Touch controllers and cables.  The Rift is delicate and expensive so it deserves a better fate than being dumped into a desk drawer.  Rift storage can be difficult but there are options to tidy things up.

Oculus Rift Storage

Many Vive owners have had success using a flexible track with hooks to hang controllers and the headset.  This is a little easier for the Rift since there are no headphones to worry about.  An extra hook can be added as tidy storage for the headset cables.  The one downside of hanging the headset is that you may cause the elastic strap to stretch over time.

The Rift is the perfect size to fit into an Ikea shoebox which will protect it from harm and keep dust away from the fabric cover and optics.

If you really want to show off your headset you can mount in on a glass mannequin head when not in use.  Futuristic to some, creepy to others.  Normally used for ski goggles, it’s the closest purpose built mount you may find.

The Touch controllers can easily be hidden out of the way with an under desk mount normally used for headphones.  This is a slick way of keeping them accessible and hanging them for charging.

Is your office too small for your Vive or Rift? No room to move around? Consider moving your VR setup to your living room. Now you have plenty of space for VR but your office no longer has a PC.

Luckily there is a better solution. You can extend the cables on your PC so that you can setup your Rift or Vive in another room and share your PC with your office. Now you can have the best of both worlds – plenty of space for VR and your PC stays where you need it.

This gives you all sorts of solutions:

• VR in your living room without a PC
• Setting up VR in your basement or garage
• Moving VR to a room where you have free space
• Using your VR PC in your office
• Sharing your dedicated VR PC

Extending your PC allows you to use your expensive VR PC wherever you want.

The Solution

The key to extending your VR system is literally extending the wires.  We need to make all the cables connected to your PC longer. The best way to do this is with Ethernet extenders that will transmit an HDMI or USB signal over Ethernet.  This allows fewer and smaller cables to be run over longer distances than normally possibly with HDMI or USB.  The Ethernet plugs have much smaller connectors than HDMI and require smaller holes to route them through a wall or ceiling.

A note that these extenders are normally not network devices, the extenders have to be wired directly to each other with no switches or routers in between.

There are two ways to solve your wiring problem and it’s ultimately a question of where you want your PC.  The simplest path is to leave your PC right next to your Vive or Rift and then extend the cables to your monitor, keyboard, and mouse to another room.  This method has less wires to extend and keeps your VR setup simple.  It allows for more space in your office but may place your PC right in your primary living space.

The alternative method is to keep your PC in another room and extend all the VR cables to your VR space.  This can be a little trickier but will keep your VR space a lot tidier.

Extend Your Monitor

Extending your monitor may be your easiest solution depending on what you need to extend and how far you need to go.

The best case scenario is if you’re only going to the next room over or possibly directly below or above your PC.  A wireless keyboard, mouse, and headphones should have no problem punching through a single wall or ceiling.  In this case you will only need an HDMI extender for your monitor.

Stray too much further and you’ll encounter a lot of frustration trying to use a wireless mouse.  If you need to extend further distances you will need to add an extra USB extender for peripherals.

HDMI Over Cat 6 Extender – This will take your HDMI signal from your PC and run it over Cat 6 directly to your monitor.  It handles 1920 x 1080 at 60 frames a second with no problem.  Grab some Cat 6 cabling and don’t mix up the receiver and transmitter.

Remember, don’t send this signal through a switch, go direct – transmitter to receiver.

If this extender uses the one HDMI port you were using for your Rift or Vive then switch over to your DisplayPort.  If you need a DisplayPort to HDMI adapter make sure you get an active version.

USB Over Cat 6 Extender – This takes all of your USB devices and sends them over Ethernet to your PC.  There are cheaper versions available for single devices but this one is bulletproof.

I prefer these Ethernet extenders since Ethernet plugs are much smaller than HDMI connectors and require smaller holes to route them through a wall or ceiling.  If you’re not worried about larger cables you can purchase active HDMI and USB extension cables that will get you the same result.

Extend Your VR System

Extending your VR system can be a little tricky due to the number and complexity of cables involved.  It’s still possible and uses a lot of the same hardware described above.  The critical criteria is making sure your HDMI cable can handle the high throughput video signal and that your USB cables can handle the pass through or tracking camera throughput.

Since Ethernet extenders can be touchy with higher bandwidth signals it’s recommended to only use active HDMI and USB cables when extending a headset.  This will ensure the video signal arrives undistributed and without lag.  Unfortunately this means the connectors will much larger and if you’re going through a wall or ceiling you’ll need a bigger hole.

Extending the Vive

Extending the Vive is relatively straightforward, the key is to keep the link box with the headset and extend the USB and HDMI cables that run to the link box.

Finding a good cable can be a little challenging as many don’t work the way they are advertised.  The /r/vive wiki has a great guide on cables that have been tested.

Active HDMI cable – Tested and approved, this is your best bet for a clean video signal to your Vive.  Monoprice builds great cables for a reasonable price.

Active USB cable – This is an active USB 2.0 cable that has been tested and is working with normal camera operation.  Vetted and approved.

Extending the Rift

Extending the Rift is a little bit trickier as the headset and sensors are very particular about the PC port and extension cable used.  There are mixed reports about active and passive cables working.

The /r/oculus wiki has a good guide on cables that have been tested and are working but most are on the short side.  Proceed at your own risk.

You’ll need to extend at least one USB cable for the headset and one for the sensor.  One more cable may be required for the controller and you’ll need to add cables down the road if you add more sensors for Touch.

HDMI Extension Cable – Tested and approved, this should give you the best reach and deliver a clean signal to the headset.

Headset USB Extension Cable – This is an active USB 3.0 extension cable that has been tested and confirmed as working with the headset.

Sensor USB Extension Cable – Another active USB 3.0 cable, you may be able to get away with USB 2.0 for the sensor but it’s better to err on the side of caution.

Oculus is releasing their new motion tracking input system called the Touch which leverages their existing headset tracking system named Constellation.  The Constellation system uses cameras to track the headset and controllers in space to know where things are.

The Rift originally included one camera which could easily be placed on a desk to track the headset.  Touch allows users to get up away from their desks and interact with things all around them.  To track things clearly Oculus is including a second camera with Touch (and even recommends a third) to make sure your controllers and headset are always visible to a camera.

Camera Locations

If you plan on using Touch while always facing your monitor then Oculus recommends placing both cameras on your desk, on opposite sides of your monitor as shown below.  This can be a bit limiting and can eat up valuable desk space.

If you plan to explore room scale tracking then you need to get a little more creative with camera mounting.  Oculus recommends the addition of a third camera to the system with all three arranged in a circle around the user.

Camera Mounting

If you’re lucky you will have enough bookshelves to place all three cameras in all the right spots.  If not, there are plenty of easy and creative ways to mount these cameras, many in a temporary fashion so you can maintain security deposits or meet the discerning approval of a spouse.

The key to mounting the cameras is detaching them from their stands and using their 1/4-20 mounting threads which is the standard thread for photography tripods and equipment.  It’s as simple as unscrewing the camera and sticking it on something else!

Tripods

One of the easiest things to do is to mount the cameras to a standard camera tripod and set them up where you need them.  The tripods are small to store but can easily extend  to head level.  They eat up some floor space but are very flexible for positioning the cameras

You can also buy a light stand which will allow you to mount your camera above head level.  The light stands are a more attractive option but have limited flexibility.

Wall Mounting

If you want to free up floor space consider a camera wall mount or a smaller speaker wall mount that will allow you to fasten the camera to a wall or ceiling.  This isn’t a bad option for your desk camera either to free up some space.

If you don’t want to put holes in your drywall consider drilling into a wooden door or window frame or using 3M Command Strips.

Other Options

If you want something less permanent but also non-obtrusive consider a tension rod and clamping tripod mount.  You can get creative with mounting the cameras and use the tension rod to span from floor to ceiling or horizontally across windows or alcoves.  This has been a good setup for Vive owners who have heavier and vibrating Lighthouse stations.

Cables

Last thing, you may want to consider picking up some USB extension cables.  Depending on your layout the Oculus provided cables may not reach back to your PC!