Overview of the Core Icosa Foundation Projects

The Icosa Foundation currently maintains three core products. Two are native apps built in Unity and derived from projects that Google used to maintain.

The third is a web-based application that reimplements The Google Poly website and API and restores approximately 150,000 Creative Commons licensed artworks and objects that were originally hosted by Google.

The three applications are closely integrated and form a coherent suite with a wide range of applications. New features are being continually added and Open Brush in particular has had a huge number of improvements and new features added since it was originally released as open source.

We also aim to support custom forks of all these projects whether for bespoke in-house use or variants designed for specific niche use-cases.

Open Brush

• Open source continuation of Google’s Tilt Brush
• Paint and sculpt in three dimensions in virtual and mixed reality
• Available for nearly all PC and standalone headsets
• Over 100 brushes allowing a broad range of techniques and effects
• Animated and audio-reactive brushes
• Supports passthrough for mixed reality painting over real environments
• Exports to many standard 3d file formats: fbx, obj, gltf, stl, usd and wrl
• Import 3d models and maintains their appearance and animation
• Support for unlimited layers
• Advanced tools for precision alignment: guides, snapping, axis locking etc
• Unity SDK for integrating sketches into existing Unity projects
• HTTP API for remote configuration, automation and integration with other apps and services
• Many example scripts and plugins included that add many features and capabilities in their own right
• Plugin API allows for deep customization and extensibility. Create new tools that interact with core features

Use Cases

• Classroom whiteboarding - explaining and illustrating spatial concepts. We have users who produce traditional 2d video content using Open Brush and others were the students also use the headset for viewing and interacting with the tutor’s illustrations
• Rapid prototyping and spatial mockups: theatre, architecture, game design, interior design
• Creative coding - the lua plugin API is particularly well suited with similar features to processing and similar frameworks but easier direct integration into the core tools and interactions.

Future Roadmap

• Animation Timeline
• Multiplayer with swappable back-ends - we have two separate prototype implementations - one using UCL’s Ubiq and the other based on Photon. Work is planned  to combine the best aspects of each and allow easy future expansion with alternative backends.
• Networked support for all tools and features: Currently basic drawing tools are supported but we want to expand this to other aspects of the app.
• Brush Editing
• SDF Guides
• Sculpting Tools
• Texture Painting
• Audio widgets
• Text widgets
• Interactivity
• Support for dome projectors over NDI/Spout
• Feature parity between PC and standalone
• Save selected strokes to library
• Geospatial features

Links

• Website: https://openbrush.app/
• Documentation: https://docs.openbrush.app/
• Code: https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush/

Open Blocks

• Open source continuation of Google’s Blocks
• Intuitive and easy-to-learn 3d polygon modeller
• Available for nearly all PC and (soon) standalone headsets
• UX/UI design by
• Create scenes from simple primitive shapes
• Modify vertices, edges and faces
• Extrude, insert and bevel faces - individually or via multi-select
• Sophisticated smart snapping for object creation and editing

Use Cases

• Possibly the most intuitive polygon modelling tool in the world. An excellent introduction to 3d modelling for a wide range of ages and abilities
• Has similar potential for rapid prototyping and spatial mockups to Open Brush but with a different emphasis and different trade-offs

Future Roadmap

• Subdivision surfaces
• Import a wider range of 3d formats
• Convert imported models to editable shapes
• Save/restore/export of imported images
• Texture mapping
• HTTP and Plugin APIs to match Open Brush
• Configurable procedural shapes
• Expanded mesh editing features
• Deformation and other global modifiers

Links

• Website: https://openblocks.app 
• Documentation: https://docs.openblocks.app
• Code: https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-blocks

Icosa Gallery

• Open source reinvention of Google’s Poly
• Web based repository and gallery for 3D models
• Runs on nearly all devices: PC, Mac, mobile, XR headsets
• Preserves over 150,000 works that were originally hosted by Google
• Simple self-hosting wherever Docker is supported
• Easy to modify and rebrand for specific personal or organisational use-cases
• Separate viewer component that is easy to embed in existing websites
• API (99% backwards compatible with the Google Poly API) for searching assets and accessing 3d content and metadata
• Tight integration with Open Brush and Open Blocks - upload directly from within the apps, browse and download existing assets. Remix, edit and combine to create new scenes.
• Viewer supports all Open Brush environments and brushes
• Ability to customise camera, environment lighting etc for any uploaded scenes or models
• Supports a wide range of standard 3d file formats
• Uploads can be assigned clearly-explained licences (Creative Commons and All Rights Reserved)
• Fully featured admin UI for site administrators
• Auto-generated OpenAPI docs and schema
• Support for oEmbed to allow the viewer to be easily embedded in 3rd party sites

Use Cases

• The initial impetus came from a need to have a simple workflow for users of Open Brush and Blocks to share and showcase their work
• Restoring the extensive content library from Google Poly allows new workflows based on composing scenes from pre-existing components.
• Being open and simple to self-host allows individuals and organisations to use Icosa for their own purposes - anywhere a searchable directory of 3d content is required.

Future Roadmap

• Easy ways to link servers so that content can easily be found across them
• Syndication and ActivityPub support
• Allow full scene editing and modification within the browser
• Interactive elements - triggers, portals, physics (based on OMI Group extensions https://github.com/omigroup )

Links

• Website: https://icosa.gallery/ 
• Documentation (currently just a rough outline) https://docs.icosa.gallery/
• Code: https://github.com/icosa-foundation/icosa-gallery