Bento – VR/XR from a Keyboard

XR may not have crashed into our lives as much as some tech billionaires have wished, but that doesn’t stop the appeal of a full display that takes up no …read more

Jun 16, 2025 - 13:30

Bento showing fully assembled device and XR glasses

XR may not have crashed into our lives as much as some tech billionaires have wished, but that doesn’t stop the appeal of a full display that takes up no physical space. At that point, why not get rid of the computer that takes up living space as well? That is what [Michael] tries to do with Bento, the form factor of an Apple Magic keyboard and the power of a Steam Deck.

Steam Deck modding is a great project to get started on but we don’t see too many VR or XR uses of the mobile pc. While the VR gaming potential is limited by lackluster power, general productivity is a perfect use case. All that productivity power can be found in a 3D printed case with a battery, allowing for some mobile use. A magic keyboard sits on top of the case, so the entire package takes up less space than the average mechanical keyboard. However, we could always support the addition of a mechanical key version. There’s plenty of spare room in this current design, just look at the storage area!

Bento open showing steam deck internals

[Michael] believes that this use of XR fulfills a more true course for “spatial computing” than Apple’s Vision Pro. Of course, this design is not restricted to only XR use; the Steam Deck is capable of running on any normal monitor you would like. Regardless, we need to see the model files to verify for ourselves! [Michael] claims these resources will be available soon, and trust us that we will be waiting!

Minimalist builds are far from unheard of here on Hackaday. After all, less room taken up by random cables or clutter means more room for projects. This is a lesson clearly followed by similar projects such as this completely wireless-powered desktop!