The tech industry’s heavyweights, including Apple, Adobe, Pixar, Autodesk, NVIDIA, and the Joint Development Foundation, are embarking on the Alliance for OpenUSD (AOUSD). The alliance has a clear mandate to advance the standardization, development and evolution of Pixar’s Universal Scene Description technology. The alliance expands the possibility of virtual reality becoming part of our everyday lives in work and entertainment, including boosting the Metaverse potential.
Th Alliance for OpenUSD says it is committed to standardizing 3D creativity and developing interoperability between tools and data. This move is intended to bridge the gap between creative assets in the 3D arena and pave the way for multi-channel experiences. Consequently, creatives will find it better to design 3D projects, products and services to function on all compatible systems. As NVIDIA stated, “Standardizing OpenUSD will accelerate its adoption and create a foundational technology that will help today’s 2D internet evolve into a 3D web.”
The consortium aims to provide further insight into their joint efforts at the Academy Software Foundation’s upcoming Open Source Days on August 6 and Sign on Aug 8
Exploring OpenUSD and its impact on 3D creativity
OpenUSD has an illustrious lineage, born in 2012 as a Pixar Animation Studios project to serve as a 3D foundation for its feature films. It went open-source in 2016, leading to Apple’s partnership with Pixar in 2018 to develop USDZ Universal, a file format designed to create augmented reality 3D models.
Steve May, Chief Technology Officer at Pixar and Chairman of AOUSD, stated, “Universal Scene Description was invented by Pixar and is the technology foundation of our state-of-the-art animation pipeline.” He explained the extensive groundwork behind OpenUSD: “OpenUSD is based on years of research and application in Pixar movie making. We will open source the project in 2016.” May further emphasized the technology’s expanded influence, saying, “OpenUSD’s influence is now expanding beyond film, visual effects and animation and into other industries that increasingly rely on 3D data for media exchange.”
It seems that the much-needed format has arrived. OpenUSD has already carved out a niche in the production and delivery of 3D content with its powerful 3D scene description technology. As noted on the AOUSD site, it has found wide application in various industries including architecture, engineering, construction and manufacturing.
The future of OpenUSD
The alliance is about to expand and standardize the OpenUSD specification to improve its use. The fact that other standards bodies can include OpenUSD in their specifications after standardization bodes well for its adoption.
The Alliance for OpenUSD will work to formulate explicit specifications to define OpenUSD’s features. By doing so, the group aims to enable wider adoption, implementation and integration of the standard and ensure its compatibility with inclusion in specifications by other standardization organizations.
Apple’s focus on 3D assets and Augmented/Mixed reality is well documented. It is seen as part of a computing future that Apple has come to demonstrate with the Apple Vision series.
Mike Rockwell, Vice President of Apple’s Vision Products Group, shared, “OpenUSD will help accelerate the next generation of AR experiences, from artistic creation to content delivery, producing an ever-expanding array of spatial computing applications. Apple has actively contributed to the development of USD, and it is an essential technology for the groundbreaking visionOS platform, as well as for the new Reality Composer Pro developer tool. We look forward to furthering its growth to a widely accepted standard.”
Meta is a notable absence from this alliance. It could further indicate current challenges for the company, especially given its significant investment in AR.
Potential for the Metaverse
The creation of the Alliance for OpenUSD and its initiative to establish a standardized 3D creative process marks a critical milestone in the evolution of the metaverse. As the boundaries between digital and physical reality continue to blur, this collaborative approach from major industry players is critical. It provides a solid foundation for interoperability, indispensable in creating immersive, cross-platform metaverse experiences. Widespread adoption of OpenUSD could therefore accelerate the emergence of a vibrant, accessible metaverse, impacting various industries and potentially revolutionizing the way we interact with digital content.