Google brings DIY virtual reality to the masses by open-sourcing Cardboard SDK

Google has made its Cardboard virtual reality software open source, meaning those with a penchant for digital tomfoolery can poke away at the Cardboard SDK to create their own VR experiences for the DIY headset. 

The news comes a few months after Google decided to back away from the world of phone-based VR by discontinuing its higher-end Daydream VR platform, with the company attributing the move to a lack of consumer and developer interest. 

As the name suggests, Google Cardboard was a cheap and cheerful phone-powered VR headset made from, you guessed it, Cardboard. The device itself has already been open-sourced by Google, giving everyone the means to build their own viewer at home, and now the company has followed up by releasing the Cardboard SDK on Github. 

According to Google, the SDK "provides everything you need to create your own VR experiences for the platform," and supports essential features like motion tracking, stereoscopic rendering, and user interaction via the viewer button. It allows for the creation for apps on both Android and iOS devices, and should be updated with additional features in the future -- though it's unclear what those features will be.