Nvidia's business metaverse "Omniverse" comes out of beta and in a free version for more users.
With its own Omniverse, Nvidia wants to bring the Metaverse approach to the industry. Employees should be able to collaborate digitally in various forms, programs, simulations, and formats via the Omniverse, work together on 3D objects or worlds and integrate them into reality via digital twins.
Most recently, for example, Nvidia showed an AI-powered avatar platform for the Omniverse and a driving assistant for autonomous cars. The goal of the Omniverse is to bring together digital work processes across departments and companies.
Technically, the Omniverse is based, among other things, on Pixar's Universal Scene Description (USD), which connects various 3D applications, a kind of "HTML for 3D", as Nvidia's Omniverse project manager Richard Kerris labels it.
In addition, there are Nvidia's own technologies for rendering or physics simulation and the integration of other leading 3D software products such as Autodesk or Unreal Engine. They will be integrated into the Omniverse via special connection software.
Omniverse 1.0 with improvements
As part of CES 2022, Nvidia is now introducing version 1.0 of the Omniverse, which is available to all customers. Until now, the software was only available as a beta version after prior application. With version 1.0, Nvidia also brings several new features.
- Omniverse Nucleus Cloud, a one-click, real-time 3D scene sharing feature (Early Access) - a sort of Google Doc for 3D
- Updates to Omniverse Audio2Face, an AI-enabled app that animates a 3D face based on an audio track, including direct export to Epic's MetaHuman to create realistic avatars
- New content from Mechwarrior 5 and Shadow Warrior 3 is available in the Omniverse Machinima Library.
- Free digital assets from leading 3D marketplaces are available in the Omniverse Launcher.
Omniverse: Free version available for individuals
For individuals, the Omniverse software is available free. "We see this in the same context as an operating system. The tide is lifting all boats. There will be many opportunities for commerce in these virtual worlds. We believe there will be a whole economy for these virtual worlds. The more we can make them accessible, the better we can all benefit," Kerris says. There is a paid enterprise version for businesses.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in August that he expects the emergence of a new metaverse economy "bigger than our economy today." He described the Omniverse project as one of the company's most important projects. Nvidia itself is using it for digital collaboration within its own company.
