Alliance for OpenUSD AOUSD

The Alliance for Open Universal Scene Description (Open USD or the AOUSD) was formed by Pixar, Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, and NVIDIA in 2023, with the support of part of the Linux Foundation; the Joint Development Foundation (JDF) to promote the interoperability of 3D content through OpenUSD.

OpenUSD being the open version of Universal Scene Description (USD), which was initially developed by Pixar in 2012 to to help address the complexities in managing 3D scene descriptions and the exchange of data involved in creating digital visual effects (VFX) and animations. Pixar released it for wider use as open software (Open USD) in 2016. The launch of AOUSD followed the release of Omniverse by Nvidia, a collaboration and simulation design package based on Open USD, aimed at expanding use into Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) and the manufacturing sectors.

AOUSD looks to standardise the 3D ecosystem to enable developers and content creators to describe, compose, and simulate large-scale 3D projects and build an ever-widening range of 3D-enabled products and services.

In December 2023 the AOUSD published a two-year Roadmap for Core USD Specification and Ecosystem Collaboration, throughout 2024 the alliance saw almost twenty more organisations joining its activities and the development of it first Interest Groups covering:

• Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO)
• Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI)
• Emerging Geometry

2025 saw the new release of OpenUSD in the form of OpenUSD v25.02, new members and a broadening of the working groups which had expanded to cover:

• Industrial and Engineering Digital Twin (IEDT) Interest Group
• Web Interest Group
• Core Spec Working Group
• Materials Working Group

For further information about AOUSD visit https://aousd.org/

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