NVIDIA makes its Omniverse free for creators

Chipmaker NVIDIA announced Tuesday, January 4 that a free version of its Omniverse is available to millions of NVIDIA Studio creators using GeForce RTX and NVIDIA RTX graphics processing units (GPUs).

“With Omniverse, NVIDIA’s real-time 3D design and virtual world simulation collaboration platform, artists, designers and creators can use leading design applications to create 3D assets and scenes from from their laptop or workstation, ”the company said on its blog.

Launched in beta last year, Omniverse has been downloaded by nearly 100,000 creators, said the company, who are speeding up workflows with its core rendering, physics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies – creating what NVIDIA describes as “interconnected 3D virtual worlds for commerce, entertainment, creativity and industry.”

These worlds will be filled with shops, homes, people, and more, all adding up to a difficult amount of content that often requires incompatible tools to produce.

“With this technology, content creators get more than just a fast renderer,” Zhelong Xu, digital artist and Omniverse creator, said in the blog post. “NVIDIA Omniverse and RTX provide artists with a powerful platform with endless possibilities. “

NVIDIA calls Omniverse the culmination of 20 years of work, saying it allows the creators of GeForce RTX Studio to connect their favorite 3D design tools to a single scene while simultaneously creating and editing between apps.

The company launched Omniverse Enterprise, a paid subscription for professional teams, in November. Tuesday’s announcement puts the capabilities of the platforms in the hands of individual creators, NVIDIA said.

Read more: Tech Giants Set To Extend And Dramatically Monetize The Metaverse

PYMNTS mentioned NVIDIA last year in an overview of companies that were tapping into the business potential of the metaverse.

Commerce in this space is already bustling, but experts say that spending – along with the ability to spend – will only expand as different platforms start to connect.

“The trade will take place in the metaverse,” said John Egan, managing director of Paris-based forecasting firm L’Atelier BNP Paribas last year.

Egan predicted a metaverse where people buy and sell virtual pets, and also pay for services like animal walking and grooming, with people living with virtual companions needing the same level of care as their real counterparts.