Last update: 12 Oct 2023

This page provides you with some insights about the HOOPS Visualize roadmap. If you are interested in providing input or collaborating on any of the projects below, please contact HOOPS Visualize's Product Manager or Tech Soft 3D support.

Release Plan

HOOPS Visualize release schedule consists in a major release and two service packs per year.

Minor updates might be released in between according to needs:

• Fix regressions or high priority issues

• Deliver updated formats to reduce availability delays

Release Schedule

See the HOOPS Target General Availability Dates.

Format Updates Plan

Provisional plan – Subject to change

Additionally, refer to the HOOPS Exchange Roadmap for Format Updates Plan, if applicable.

Short-term projects

Projects planned to be delivered in next release (next 4 months)

• Point Clouds workflows improvements

  • OOC will be ported to all Visualize supported platforms, including mobile platforms.

  • Add the capability of importing point clouds into OOC via an API, instead of having to supply a file for preprocessing using an external executable

Mid-term projects

Planned or on-going projects that might be delivered mid-term (in one or two releases) – After 4 months / before 12 months

• Volumetric meshes support

  • HOOPS Visualize will add support for volumetric meshes

• LinuxARM and Windows 11 Support

Long-term projects

Longer term projects we are considering

• Improved performance and scalability

  • This project will focus on improving frames per second performance and resource management optimization when working with large models, or data sets comprised of many files. Examples include BIM federation workflows and Digital Factory simulations.

  • The long-term goal is to modernize HOOPS Visualize’s rendering pipeline and incrementally take advantage of modern hardware acceleration.

• Perform Collision Detection analysis in Visualize

  • While HOOPS Exchange licensees can use an integration between Visualize and Exchange to check for collisions, this is not designed for interactivity. This project would aim to have collision detection performed on the client-side without reliance on Exchange.

• Add support for implicit modeling

  • The generative design market is pushing the boundaries of what can be manufactured. However since they do not typically use standard BRep / single body mesh forms HOOPS Visualize cannot display these models efficiently. This project will be to investigate what changes would be required to make it easier for generative design applications to use HOOPS Visualize.

• Vulkan or DX12 drivers

  • Adding support for new generation graphics APIs will enable Visualize to add new functionality and to also begin refactoring the 3DF GS to take advantage of modern GPU architecture.

• Improved rendering quality

  • Several improvements are planned for PBR in Visualize. This should include better support for environment mapping, image based lighting, and rendering which is similar to the rendering in HOOPS Communicator. Finally we will add a mechanism to allow non-PBR models (such as CAD models) to be displayed in a PBR mode, providing higher quality renderings without having to re-author all data in a PBR application.

  • Visualize will improve our PBR rendering support, including clearcoat and specular materials. This is required to render many glTF models as expected.

• Parasolid Sprocket for Android

  • As Siemens has now released Parasolid for Android, Visualize will port the existing Parasolid sprocket to Android.

• PBR output through Exchange sprocket

  • The Exchange Sprocket will be updated to offer the ability to take a HOOPS Visualize model and export it to GLTF through HOOPS Exchange.