3DVR Hardware Commons

Build the machines together.

Community-owned hardware means publishing the recipe: designs, parts, firmware, repair knowledge, manufacturing notes, failures, and improvements. Start with things people can build today and climb toward increasingly local computing production.

Start building Read the roadmap Open Source field guide
Linux
RISC-V
Repair
Boards
Local Fab
CAD
Commons

The Rule

A design is not finished until the community can reproduce it.

Hardware openness is more than posting a schematic. A useful commons includes a current BOM, source files, assembly steps, repair procedures, testing, licensing, and honest documentation of what failed.

Understand

Publish the recipe

CAD, schematics, firmware, sourcing, testing, and known limitations stay visible.

Own

Repair before replace

Prefer standard parts, screws, sockets, replaceable modules, and documented service paths.

Reproduce

Move production closer

Shift what we can from distant factories toward builders, shops, schools, co-ops, and local microfactories.

Build Ladder

Start easy. Climb the stack.

Each stage should create useful hardware and stronger community capability even if the later stages take years.

0 · Commons infrastructureTemplates, BOMs, contribution board, shared tool inventory, build documentation.
1 · Buildable hardwareKeyboards, cases, mounts, adapters, repair parts, simple electronics, community assembly days.
2 · Community computerRISC-V where practical, Debian/Linux, modular compute, open enclosure and carrier-board files.
3 · Open boardsOpen EDA, pooled PCB orders, soldering, rework, inspection, fixtures, and repeatable testing.
4 · Microfactory3D printing, CNC, laser cutting, PCB assembly, cables, device imaging, testing, repair.
5 · SiliconFPGA-first processors, open PDK learning, RISC-V cores, HackerFab and Libre-SOC collaboration.

First Concrete Build

3DVR Open Split Keyboard

Begin with something useful, achievable, repairable, and directly connected to 3DVR's computing vision: an ergonomic split keyboard that works at a desk today and can evolve toward comfortable VR typing.

V0

Off-the-shelf first

Standard switches, accessible controller, wired connection, printable case, and open firmware.

Documentation

Reproducible by strangers

Complete BOM, build photos, firmware instructions, test procedure, repair notes, and cost tracking.

Evolution

VR and wearable modules

Later iterations can explore wireless halves, compact thumb clusters, mounts, and wearable configurations.

Open project brief

Community Model

Hardware needs more than engineers.

Builders, repairers, CAD designers, programmers, photographers, teachers, translators, sourcers, organizers, shops, and sponsors can all move a physical project forward.

Build locallyOrganize build nights, pooled orders, shared tools, repair sessions, and small batches.
Pay contributorsUse kits, repairs, bounties, manufacturing, workshops, sponsorships, and support to fund the commons.
Share upstreamKeep improvements public so one chapter's solution becomes another chapter's starting point.
Survive vendorsDesign for standard parts, documented interfaces, forks, alternates, and maintainable replacements.

Next Moves

Turn the commons into physical objects.

  1. Create the keyboard project folder.BOM, CAD, firmware, assembly, testing, repair, licensing.
  2. Inventory what we already have.Controllers, switches, printers, soldering tools, SBCs, displays, and fabrication access.
  3. Choose the simplest V0 architecture.Optimize for availability, repairability, cost, and reproducibility.
  4. Publish the first contribution task.Make it possible for someone new to help without needing permission.