Information systems and software compatibility have been a major stumbling block for AR and VR supported workflows in the past. For example, in the construction industry, designers have often had to export their building design between several different software and file types before it could be viewed in VR. This also often led to degradation in visual quality and information loss due to file format incompatibilities. Moreover, this usually took hours or even days to complete, or it might simply have been impossible to do in the first place. Getting the different design tools that are currently in use in companies and with their clients to work together seamlessly has been a challenge to say the least and it has impeded effective collaboration.
Luckily, it seems like we might be on the cusp of solving most of these challenges with the open beta release of the Nvidia Omniverse platform. Omniverse acts as an integrator platform between the most popular industrial and 3D design software, and it aims to support “universal interoperability across different applications and 3D ecosystem vendors.” The platform essentially allows the users to tap into a real-time editing scene with their separate software where the platform combines all of their inputs into a single viewable experience. This data can also be sent to be viewed with AR and VR devices via their XR Cloud service. With Nvidia’s R&D resources, we can also expect continuous updates and support for developers. It will also be interesting to see if other companies will start offering similar solutions.
You can read more about the currently supported file formats of the platform from Nvidia’s website and download the open beta version of the platform if you want to test it out. You can also see it in action in the first video with three designers working remotely with three different tools with the results being integrated live in Nvidia Omniverse:
