To the Metaverse and Beyond: Meet the Omniverse Contest Finalists Building the Tools for 3D Worlds
Extensions for robotics, cloud exploration, and sun path mapping among winning submissions
By: Paul Cutsinger, Director of Omniverse Exchange, NVIDIA
With extensions submitted from developers all over the world, the inaugural NVIDIA Omniverse Code Contest was a success! This contest was launched specifically for developers, engineers, technical artists, hobbyists, and researchers to get started developing Python-based tools for the metaverse.
The challenge? Build an Omniverse extension using Omniverse Kit and the developer-centric Omniverse application Omniverse Code. Contestants were tasked with creating Python extensions in one of the following categories for the contest:
- Layout and scene authoring tools
- Omni.ui with Omniverse Kit
- Scene modifier and manipulator tools
There was one grand-prize winner, and subsequent winners for each of the above categories. Our contest judges had a difficult time choosing amongst the excellent submissions we received. Every submission has contributed to the growing ecosystem of extensions that are expanding what’s possible in the Omniverse. And Omniverse leverages Universal Scene Description (USD), so any extension built on the multi-GPU computing platform will connect to the tools and assets of your choice.
Grand-Prize: IndoorKit Robotics Extension
Yizhou Zhao
Yizhou Zhao’s inspiration came from his research background. He has been working on designing algorithms for various AI experiments, but lacked an experimental room and an actual robot. With Omniverse, Zhao was able to apply everything he imagined about robots and AI and actually simulate it. He shares that “The moment [he] opened Omniverse, [his] knowledge and skills in math, physics, computational geometry, 3D design, animation, and deep learning came alive.”
Zhao describes his “IndoorKit” extension as being relevant to the field of robotics because of how much effort is typically required to set up even a simple task, such as picking up an object. However, with his new extension, and the help of Omniverse, “not only can we set up tasks for robots in a photo-realistic and physics-reliable manner, but we build this extension to bring high-quality content with a wide range of variability and randomness.”
Layout and Scene Authoring Award: Meta Cloud Explorer Extension
Gavin Stevens
Gavin Stevens’ idea for his “Meta Cloud Explorer (MCE)” extension was not a new one for him. In fact, he had been thinking about how he could build it for quite some time. Stevens was looking for a way to represent Azure resources in a 3D space. He was excited to share that “Omniverse made it possible to realize my vision without reinventing the wheel.”
Stevens’ extension allows cloud service architects to visualize their cloud architecture in their “own private Omniverse”, a capability which adds “a lot of business value in envisioning how architecture enhancements and changes affect your current environments.” He hopes his extension will be able to “drive better infrastructure, optimized resources, reduced costs, and breakthrough customer experiences.”
Scene Modifier and Manipulator Award: SunPath Extension
Pingfan Wu
Pingfan Wu’s background is in architecture. He shared his previous experiences of designing buildings and the importance of considering the natural lighting and its impact on the design.
These experiences served to inspire Wu’s contest submission: “SunPath” extension. He hopes his extension will make sunlight control more “intuitive” for architectural designers, urban designers, and anyone looking for real-time interactivity of light in their designs.
Wu shares his amazement with the rendering technology of Omniverse, saying that it “makes [his] test scenes very realistic, what you see is what you get!” Wu shared his excitement with the team to continue to further develop his extension, as well as at the prospect of seeing more field practitioners use the platform.
Omni.ui Award: Exploded View Extension
Cheng He
Cheng He enjoys working on the bleeding edge of technology. His work includes studying and developing emerging technologies in architecture including AI Design, Computational Design, Architecture Rendering, and BIM Workflow. His inspiration for the contest included being “the pioneer to first experiment with how architects can use Omniverse” in their workflows.
With his new “Exploded View” extension, which He describes as being “very useful to show the details of products in many fields like architecture and mechanical engineering,” he hopes to guide others in the fields of architecture, construction and manufacturing to use Omniverse as a means of empowering the work they are already doing.
Other Stand Out Submissions
While there were four winners selected, despite a very close competition, the team was impressed with the work displayed by all entrants. In particular, these four #ExtendOmniverse submissions came close to a prize and are deserving of honorable mentions:
- Vasyl Mykhalchuk: “Vehicle Path Tracking” Extension
- Antonio Serrano Muñoz: “Embedded Jupyter Notebook” Extension
- Yizhou Zhao: “Play with Font” Extension
- Vadim Karpenko: “Material Manager” Extension
Visit the Omniverse GitHub to check out all of the extensions submitted to the #ExtendOmniverse contest.
The Challenge Continues
While the contest is over, the challenge remains: how will you extend Omniverse and build the 3D tools of the metaverse? Each winning submission, as well as the honorable mentions, can be found on our contest page. The top four winners will have their extensions featured in the Omniverse launcher. You can also visit our GitHub contest page for sample code and “getting started” material.
Learn how to make a Python-based extension by taking the Deep Learning Institute (DLI) online courses. These free self-paced courses offer hands-on exercises will allow you to build your own custom metaverse tools:
- How to Build Custom 3D Scene Manipulator Tools on NVIDIA Omniverse: Build your own custom scene manipulator tools in Omniverse using a few lines of Python code. See how you can build advanced tools on the modular, easily extensible Omniverse platform. Enroll now.
- Easily Develop Advanced 3D Layout Tools on NVIDIA Omniverse: Get hands-on experience with NVIDIA Omniverse. See how easily you can create your own custom scene layout tools with the modular Omniverse platform with a few lines of Python script. Enroll now.
- Build Beautiful, Custom UI for 3D Tools on NVIDIA Omniverse: Become a master in UI with a hands-on deep dive into Omniverse Kit’s powerful omni.ui suite of tools and frameworks. Build your own custom UI for workflows in Omniverse with Python script. Enroll now.
Whether a hobbyist or a professional, the Omniverse community welcomes you! You are encouraged to apply to be a part of the Omniverse Insiders Program. Don’t forget to join the community on Discord to stay up-to-date on the latest developer contest news, content, and innovations.
Follow NVIDIA Omniverse on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Medium for additional resources and inspiration. Check out the Omniverse forums, and join our Discord server and Twitch channel to chat with the community.
Meet the Author
Paul Cutsinger is director of Omniverse Exchange at NVIDIA, where he’s focused on tooling for real-time, true-to-reality simulation. With a career spanning Amazon, Disney, and Microsoft, Paul’s work centers on enabling creators to take their ideas into production.
