Quest 3 has the passthrough API now that lets apps access the camera feeds as well. I’m eagerly awaiting Meta or a third-party to implement something similar.
There’s also other specialist devices for the vision impaired like myself, but as far as I know none of them give you magnified STEREO vision (although maybe the new eSight does, I’m not sure tbh).
There’s also bioptic glasses, but they’re chunky. Honestly give me glasses with micro-OLED displays like the viewfinder on the Sony DSLR cameras attached to a top-tier phone camera sensor and lens construction; my phone zooms in amazingly far yet is thinner than any bioptic or monocular I’ve ever seen.
I’ve looked into building this kind of thing a few times but I think it might be above the components I can get my hands on.
im not sure "VR headsets" have cameras with good enough resolution to provide reliable magnification without AI/ml full of artifacts nonsense.
but you can connect different camera sources to them / to PC they are connected to,
for example some webcams have removable optics, so by removing that lens you get great macro camera, without replacing optics, just removing lens. i used that trick multiple times for reading PCB components type, covered with conformal coating. or with little ingenuity it is possible to replace with different lens altogether.
you should check out mobile phone microphone, where guy put drop of water on mobile phone lens and created microscope. or- lens from laser pointer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOHxNbxm-m4
different angles of incidence of light can make huge difference in legibility, be it for fine work or home.
or changing color(s) can increase contrast in some interiors. or just using one color of light i.e laser flood
