Fresnel Lens

A Fresnel lens offers 2 things to making the racing simulation experience more real:
1. It makes the screen look bigger than it is and
2. it gives a sense of depth due to your eyes focusing further away than when looking at a monitor without a lens.

This lens is a model F550 . I purchased it off of Ebay. You can also find it here http://www.3dlens.com

To get the best from the lens, it should be mounted in a box to keep light out from between it and the monitor. The distances don't have to be that exact for it to work. Mine is about 11 inches from the monitor. I view it from about 13 inches away.

My box isn't finished, but it is usable. I want to seal it a bit better (although that really isn't necessary) and paint it.

Box is strapped to the monitor. It is a wood frame with cardnboard sides to keep the weight down. Foam between box and monitor keeps out light and protects the monitor.

Lens is held on by screws and washers. Since the lens is flexible, this helps keep it flat.

Since the lens is so close to my face, I had to put the TrackIR reflectors on top of the hat. This works perfectly.

Note: photographs can capture the size of the image, but can't capture the sense of depth that is seen when you look into the lens. The camera was at the same distance for photos 1 and 2 on the left, and then moved closer for photos 1 and 2 on the right.

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