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As industrial digitization accelerates, startups are leveraging Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) and generative AI to push the boundaries of what’s possible in 3D content creation, digital twins, and AI-driven innovation.
At GTC, six pioneering startups shared how they are leveraging OpenUSD and Generative AI to solve complex problems and create new opportunities across industries. Watch the sessions here.
These companies are supported by NVIDIA Inception, a free program for innovative technology startups. With more than 18,000 members, the global program provides startups with engineering guidance, technical training and access to funding opportunities to accelerate their businesses.
Learn how OpenUSD is redefining the boundaries of digital creation and consumption, each driving the next era of advanced 3D solutions.
Rendered.ai: An open standard for synthetic data generation
Rendered.ai, a member of NVIDIA Inception, generates synthetic computer vision data using physically accurate 3D simulations to overcome bias and drive AI innovation. The company’s expertise spans remote sensing, healthcare, and the public sector, enabling customers to generate unlimited, fully labeled data for training AI.
Despite the increasing amount of data being collected to train AI, a persistent problem faced by machine learning (ML) engineers is obtaining data that meets specific criteria and can be reused across multiple projects. To address these challenges, Rendered.ai adopted OpenUSD.
OpenUSD enables Rendered.ai to reduce data conversion and increase simulations for its customers, speeding up the iterative process so they can generate physically accurate synthetic data faster for a wide range of applications, from agriculture to defense to manufacturing.
“One of the key stepping stones to optimally solving a problem is open standards,” said Chris Andrews, COO at Rendered.ai. “Using standardized technology like OpenUSD allows us to participate in a large ecosystem that enables us to do so much more than we could do alone.
Evolver Interactive: Pave the future with OpenUSD digital twins
Evolver Interactive has been using NVIDIA Omniverse, a platform for connecting and developing OpenUSD applications, for more than five years. The company is focused on digital twins and integrated management systems as both software and a service. The startup’s use of USD for collaboration and enterprise solutions has been crucial to scaling projects across various industries.
By leveraging USD and Omniverse, they created an asset store in the cloud, streamlined processes, and improved collaboration. Evolver CEO Chris Scott emphasized the importance of starting small and gradually expanding their use of USD and Omniverse to solve complex problems. Now, Evolver can build digital twins of large factories using a variety of data sources, including Lidar point cloud data, for customers such as the European Consortium.
“We encourage you to consider where USD fits into your workflow and how it can move your project forward,” said Chris Scott. “OpenUSD and Omniverse offer a versatile solution, but no single solution covers everything. It’s important to effectively leverage the tools available to you.”
Ascon Systems: Combining digitalization, AI and industry expertise
Today’s manufacturing industry faces numerous challenges, including legacy programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, a shortage of skilled labor, and limited information technology and operational technology (IT-OT) convergence. To address these challenges, Ascon Systems developed Ascon Qube, an automation platform that integrates real-time data with USD-based 3D pipelines. By linking the physical and virtual worlds through a digital twin, Ascon Qube enables live production control, predictive maintenance, and accelerated ramp-up processes.
This has been useful in projects such as the BMW Group’s Innovation Hub, where BMW uses Ascon Qube to link multiple automated assembly and test stations, allowing users to view operations and related information in real time, perform simulations and analyses, and obtain predictions.
“Going forward, we aim to move away from linear programming and execution models and focus on ecosystems and hyperconverged infrastructure in collaboration with NVIDIA and our partners,” said Jens Mueller, CEO of Ascon Systems.
SyncTwin: Helping small and medium-sized businesses build digital twins
SyncTwin aims to leverage the OpenUSD and Omniverse ecosystem to give small and medium-sized businesses access to the industrial metaverse. The impetus for this initiative was a partnership with BMW, which demonstrated the transformative potential of industrial digital twins. However, many small and medium-sized businesses do not have IT departments dedicated to digital factory solutions and rely on tools such as Excel and PowerPoint.
SyncTwin transforms existing layout information and process data from Excel sheets into OpenUSD components to create interactive models that unlock the full potential of your factory operations. This approach makes it easy for small and medium-sized businesses to take advantage of digital twin technology to streamline operations, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately thrive in the digital age.
“Integrating OpenUSD into SyncTwin demonstrates our commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to democratize access to the industrial metaverse for companies of all sizes,” said SyncTwin CEO Michael Wagner.
Aireal: An immersive pre-construction experience with user-centered design
Aireal specializes in interactive and immersive technology platforms for pre-construction environments, providing visualization, customization and exploration experiences before homes and communities are built, providing clients with insight into the amenities and lifestyle of prospective buyers.
Leveraging OpenUSD and Omniverse, they deliver a highly realistic, interactive experience that allows customers to visualize and customize their future homes. To ensure product delivery aligns with customer expectations, Aireal connects data from its ERP system to OpenUSD to ensure showcased options are always available for production.
“OpenUSD brings incredible value to us through high performance, realistic experiences, real-time collaboration capabilities and improved customer engagement,” said Kevin Hart, Aireal founder and CEO.
Configuru: Creating personalized marketing experiences
In the digital age of AI, traditional sales methods are becoming less effective as users demand more personalized experiences and a comprehensive understanding of their challenges. To address this, Configuru, an NVIDIA Inception member, has developed various AI applications for image generation and integrated them into NVIDIA Omniverse. For example, Omniverse’s latest AI extensions allow users to easily create complex scenes with drag-and-drop functionality, saving time and resources compared to traditional rendering methods.
“OpenUSD’s integration with Omniverse Nucleus enhances collaboration and data management across different development environments,” said Aleksandr Evgrashin, head of software development at Configuru.
These pioneering startups are at the forefront of revolutionizing industries with OpenUSD and Generative AI. Their innovative solutions are transforming how businesses harness operational data, collaborate, and engage with customers. Leveraging the power of open standards and cutting-edge technologies like Omniverse, these companies are paving the way for a future where data-driven insights and immersive experiences drive success. The possibilities are endless, and these startups are leading the way to a more efficient, connected, and intelligent world.
Watch the full session, including their presentation, here: Building Tools for a Digital World: Startups Pioneering OpenUSD and Generative AI
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