DODOcase is probably known by most for their phone and tablet cases, but the San Francisco-based company jumped on an opportunity to get Google Cardboard VR kits into the hands of a VR-hungry public. To date, the company has sold more than 65,000 of the kits and has now launched a Kickstarter campaign to spur what they're calling a "DIY Virtual Reality Open Source Future," which includes open software components for VR web development and a newly designed version of Cardboard that has a Leap Motion mount and greater smartphone compatibility.DODOcase quickly jumped on an interesting opportunity that presented itself when Google revealed Cardboard. The unit is an incredibly simple VR smartphone adapter (literally made out of cardboard) that the company unleashed as an open-source project at Google I/O 2014 to spur developers' interest in VR on Android.See Also: Way More Than You Wanted to Know About Google Cardboard[caption id="attachment_17888" align="alignright" width="325"] DODOcase has made its own improvements to Cardboard. The v1.2 model is more engaging for DIYers and has a capacitive film hidden behind the nose which taps against a touchscreen display, allowing input on any smartphone, not just Android devices with compatible magnetometers.[/caption]But there was a quirk to this plan; while Google handed out some 10,000 Cardboard kits at I/O, they never intended to sell it as a consumer product. Google just wanted to lower the barrier to entry for devs interested in VR on Android. So instead of selling Cardboard, Google published open-source DIY plans for anyone who wanted to build their own. DIY can be fun, but there wasn't an option for those who didn't have the time or energy to order disparate pieces and chop up some cardboard in accordance with the DIY plans.That's where DODOcase saw an opportunity and stepped in. Not more than a day after Cardboard was revealed, DODOcase offered essentially the exact same kit for $20—in some cases, this was cheaper than buying all the parts for the DIY version, and almost certainly a faster way to get your hands on one. The company even launched their own meta app store to collect VR-enabled Android apps.At Engadget Expand 2014 earlier this month, the DODOcase stand was swamped throughout the event. People were practically throwing cash and cards at the staff manning the booth to get their hands on the kit. The promise of a taste of VR for $20 is apparently an easy sell. And before anyone accuses DODOcase of conflating Cardboard with much more performant VR hardware, they had plenty of units on display for people to test before they bought.[gallery type="rectangular" ids="17873,17874"]To date, the company tells Road to VR that they've sold more than 65,000 units, to the tune of some $1.3 million (assuming $20/piece). They'll probably fall short of their rather audacious goal of moving 1 million units by the end of 2014, but they've demonstrated a healthy appetite for low-cost VR. If people are impressed by Cardboard, they'll be blown away by serious VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and Gear VR. Rather than poison in the well, as feared by some, Cardboard may be an apt gateway drug to serious VR.At Expand, DODOcase also hosted a 'DIY VR' workshop where they handed out and lead the construction of the newer v1.2 version of Cardboard, an upgraded model of their own design which incorporates a new capacitive input mechanism for compatibility with a greater number of smartphones.Continue Reading on Page 2...Kickstarting a "DIY Virtual Reality Open Source Future"[caption id="attachment_17884" align="aligncenter" width="560"] The DC-1 with Leap Motion mount in front of the 'DIYVR Trucker Hat' with 'Hat Mounted Display' accessory[/caption]Now the company is taking its next step into the world of VR with a Kickstarter campaign for a new version of Cardboard that its calling the DC-1 (Developer Cardboard Toolkit), which has both the magnetic ring input of the original Cardboard and the capacitive input from DODOcase's v1.2 model. There's also a Leap Motion mount and a rather hilarious add-on to turn any baseball cap into a Cardboard mount.DODOcase DIY VR Open Source Future KickstarterThe campaign, which aims to raise $25,000, is for more than just the DC-1 though. In the company's own words:What is DIYVR?Open, web-based software development tools for Virtual Reality.Accessible and adaptable Cardboard Smartphone VR toolkits that convert your smartphone into your very own Virtual Reality viewerWe’ve partnered with Virtual Reality pioneer, author, and developer extraordinaire Tony Parisi and his organization Third Eye to add VR support to the open source GLAM software. The proceeds from this campaign will help create software tools that will streamline web-based VR development.Virtual Reality is the next new media platform, but its arrival has been hamstrung by expensive hardware and proprietary software. With your help, we can blow this industry wide open and accelerate its arrival by years. You can help any web developer be a Virtual Reality developer.We’ll reward you generously with some fun perks, but the real reward will be all the awesome Virtual Reality games, apps and experiences to come!DODOcase has also laid out a wealth of stretch goals, should the campaign exceed its aspirations:$50,000 – Bootstrap of Mobile VR Set of UI and interaction components to quickly build out DIYVR apps:Input: Gaze Tracking and Touch HandlingLayout Managers: Clyinder, Sphere, GridHeads-Up Display and Cockpit ControlsAnimations and Transitions$150,000 – DIYVR Server, First Edition Upload and share 3D models, photos, and videos from your fgavorite package, view in VR:3D artists can upload models in FBX, OBJ, COLLADA, and other industry-standard formats exported by popular tools such as MAYA, 3ds Max, Blender, and SketchupEasy upload of panoramic photos and videosUsers browse gallery of latest, most popular and categorized using our standard DIYVR viewer$250,000 – DIYVR Server, Full Publishing Platform Build and host full apps and share with the world with no download:In-browser development tool for easy app buildingTemplates for fast envrionment creationApplication hosting service a la Heroku$500,000 – DIYVR II Everything included above, and more:More features, more templates, more UI widgets, more service levels in the hosting platformMore hardware input mechanismsTell us what else you would like to see us add to GLAM in the commentsThe notion of a "DIY Virtual Reality Open Source Future" does feel a bit nebulous; what they're really talking about is building up the GLAM language with simple VR-specific functionality that anyone will be able to use to get started on VR web apps. GLAM already aims to be a simple markup language for 3D web content; from GLAMs FAQ:Let's say you want to create a cube with a texture map (image) on its surface. Using the WebGL API, that's about 300 lines of code. (Really.) You have to create buffers, load textures, set states, write shaders, and finally make drawing calls. It's a ton of work, and it's in an alien language full of unfamiliar concepts. So, you turn to Three.js to make it easier. Now, in about forty lines of code, you have accomplished the same thing, and are working with high level, easy to understand graphics objects. Cool... but think about it: forty lines of JavaScript code to make a cube. And that cube doesn't animate, you can't use your mouse to rotate it, and you can't change its appearance with a style sheet. Wouldn't it be great if you could just sayand a cube appears on the page? You bet it would.DODOcase's Kickstarter aims to support GLAM's ease of use in the VR space as well. From the above example, it might be easy to draw a cube with GLAM, but how do you render two warped views for the left and right eye as required by VR? And how do you tap into a smartphone's sensors to support headtracking view control in the browser? The goal of this Kickstarter is to make that stuff easy too, so every developer doesn't have to write it from the ground up.There's a few similar projects also hoping to make VR web development easy. Google itself launched a series of VR-enabled Chrome experiments which you can see on an Android phone here (or learn a bit more on your desktop here). The VR team at Mozilla Research is also publishing open-source code for VR content on the web. There's also VR.js, though it hasn't been updated in some time.See Also: Mozilla Research VR Launches Experimental Website Compatible with Oculus RiftAt the time of writing, DODOcase's Kickstarter is less than $5,000 short of their $25,000 goal and the company says that backers can expect their Cardboard VR kits by Christmas. We've got no doubt that the Kickstarter will reach its goal, but what will be most interesting to see is how far it surpasses it.