When Patrick Buckley and DODOcase released their first cardboard VR kit in July, they were thrilled by the response they received from the community and wanted to do more and they aim to do so with their recently launched kickstarter project, DIYVR. The goal of the project is to make Virtual Reality accessible to entry level developers and enthusiasts who want to experiment with mobile VR, free from the restrictions of “expensive hardware and proprietary software.” In doing so they hope to help “blow the industry wide open and accelerate [Virtual Reality’s] arrival by several years.”

For $20 backers will receive the improved version of the cardboard VR kit, which is now more universally compatible, thanks to the “capacitive touch switch,” as well as a nifty new Leap Motion controller mount for the front of the case. And for an additional $5 the kit comes with a “Hat Mounted Display” that allows you to mount the Cardboard viewer to any baseball cap. When compared to the cost of more powerful devices like the Oculus DK2 ($350) and the Samsung Gear VR ($200) this may be a suitable entry level solution for those wishing to dip their toes in the virtual water.

The open source development, however, may be one of the most important things to come from this project. DODOcase has partnered with VR pioneer, Tony Parisi – who among many other things, was one of the founding developers of VRML – to add VR support to the open source GLAM software. Their goal of $25,000 will allow for this integration to become a reality and could really help accelerate the development of VR. Some of the project’s stretch goals include a set of components to allow developers to quickly build out apps and a full VR publishing platform wherein apps can be hosted live, with no downloads.

At the time of writing the project is currently a little over halfway to its $25,000 goal with 21 days to go. Back it today and reserve your Cardboard VR Viewer to make sure you get one of the hottest holiday gifts on the market!