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OpenSpace3D

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OpenSpace3D
Information
Type Software
Developer I-maginer
Written In Scol
Operating System Windows
License GNU LGPL
Website https://www.openspace3d.com/

OpenSpace3D is a free, open-source authoring platform for interactive real-time 3D applications, including virtual reality and augmented reality. The project originated at I-maginer and uses the Scol programming language. Its visual editor assembles functions called PlugITs and connects their events to actions; developers can also write custom PlugITs in Scol.[1][2]

The software combines a scene editor, interaction authoring and application export. Historical Oculus integration and later OpenXR support belong to different versions of this platform.[3]

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Documented authoring and XR workflows, versioned export options, selected release records, source-license statements and the cited research implementations. About review dates.

Features

Scene and asset editing

The scene tree organizes resources and their hierarchy, including meshes, cameras, lights, animations, bones and particle systems. Resource groups organize parts of a scene. Scene controls include shadow, fog, environment and physics settings, while diagnostic information can display frame rate and the number of faces in view.[4]

OpenSpace3D imports 3D assets in formats including DAE, OBJ, glTF, 3DS and STL. The import wizard distinguishes a model or scene from an OpenSpace3D project (.XOS). It identifies resource folders when they are supplied with the file; otherwise, the author specifies the locations of textures, meshes, materials and shaders. Imported content can enter the default scene group or a separate resource group.[5][6]

Function Documented capability
Physics A built-in physics engine handles collisions, forces and movement.[5]
Audio and media The platform includes 3D audio and video playback on 3D models.[5]
Speech The feature list includes built-in speech recognition and text-to-speech that can operate without an Internet connection.[5]
Pathfinding Tools define character trajectories.[5]
External inputs The input library documents keyboard, mouse and joypad modules, as well as modules for devices such as Kinect, Leap Motion and VRPN systems. These are integration options, rather than a requirement that an application use every listed device.[7]

PlugIT workflows

A PlugIT implements a function such as moving an object, playing a video or opening a web link. The function editor groups PlugIT instances by resource group and provides controls to add, configure, copy and remove them.[2][8]

A link connects an event emitted by a PlugIT to an action on another PlugIT, or on the same instance. The author selects a source event, connects it to the destination and selects the destination action. The manual illustrates this with a left-click event connected to an opening action.[9]

Links can carry values such as object coordinates. Parameters may use a fixed value, data emitted by a source event, or global variables. The documentation uses $1 and $2 for successive event parameters and percent-delimited names such as %MyVar% for global variables. Advanced link parameters can include Scol code that returns a string.[10]

XR interaction

The OpenXR PlugIT exposes headset and controller position and orientation to the application. Its settings include controller objects and offsets, pointer rays, object grabbing, controller vibration and teleportation modes. It can generate events for buttons, triggers, grip values and controller detection. Hand tracking and passthrough are optional extensions that require support from the device.[11]

For marker-based AR, the AR capture and AR marker PlugITs connect camera tracking to scene objects. The marker module specifies a marker identifier or image, its physical size, the associated object and the coordinate origin. Its events report detection, loss, position and orientation.[12]

System requirements

The Windows setup described in the manual includes Scol Voy@ger and the SO3Engine 3D engine. Its configuration interface identifies the installed DirectX, SO3Engine and Ogre3D versions and provides a 3D test. It offers DirectX and OpenGL rendering methods and anti-aliasing settings. The manual recommends DirectX on Windows and requires restarting Scol Voy@ger after configuration changes.[13]

The download page checked on 13 October 2026 listed version 1.96.1, dated 17 July 2026, in installed and portable editions, with 32-bit and 64-bit portable downloads. It states that the portable distribution includes the model library, demos and examples.[14] The online documentation separately identifies itself as version 1.95.0, generated on 16 December 2025; its instructions therefore have their own version context.[15]

Setup instructions

An authoring workflow imports a scene or model and its resources, organizes the scene and connects PlugIT events to actions. The editor provides per-module help, while Scol programming supports custom modules.[6][8][2] Before export, the project settings supply the application name and description and can specify an icon and splash screen.[16]

Application export

The version 1.95.0 manual documents these export outputs.[16]

Export target Output
OpenSpace3D project package A PKOS resource package, also usable with the Scene Loader PlugIT.
Windows An executable and resources.
Linux, Raspberry Pi or macOS A platform-specific executable.
Android An APK or Android Bundle.
Android XR An APK for OpenXR-compatible Android headsets, with Meta Quest and Pico 4 as examples.
iOS An Xcode project to compile on a Mac.

Exports enter an export folder next to the project. Android XR is the documented name of this OpenXR-compatible Android export option.[16]

Development and version history

OpenSpace3D's source repository includes the editor, player, libraries and PlugITs. The project supplies resources for writing Scol code and custom modules and publishes source through Subversion.[17][18] Its editor source identifies I-maginer and author Bastien Bourineau and records a first update on 2 April 2009. That source annotation is not an application-store release date.[19]

The project's terms identify the software license as LGPL 3.0. The editor source header permits LGPL version 2 or a later version, while its accompanying COPYING.LESSER.txt contains LGPL version 3. The terms separately identify the Scol license as a custom BSD license.[20][19][21]

Version Documented XR or authoring change
1.6.1 Added an Oculus PlugIT and VRPN client module.[3]
1.6.2 and 1.6.3 Added an Oculus demonstration and Leap Motion support, then documented AR camera capture with a webcam attached to the Oculus Rift. These historical entries are distinct from later OpenXR integration.[3]
1.90 The 1 March 2023 announcement introduced OpenXR, updated VR templates and Pico export, alongside DirectX 11 rendering on Windows.[22]
1.93 The 20 December 2024 announcement described Android XR export using the standard OpenXR loader in place of separate Pico and Meta Quest export options, and new pathfinding PlugITs.[23]
1.96.1 Listed on the download page with a date of 17 July 2026.[14]

Research applications

A 2016 paper by Hamada El Kabtane and colleagues described an AR practical-activity system that used OpenSpace3D to assemble imported equipment models, camera capture and Leap Motion interaction. Its authoring and learner modules were parts of the eMouss@ide learning system.[24]

In 2018, Youssef Mourdi and colleagues described a separate framework that converted OpenSpace3D scenes and interactions into OpenSimulator OAR archives and LSL scripts. Their free-fall workshop imported Blender models, configured a ball and height controls in OpenSpace3D and transferred the scene to OpenSimulator. The authors identified mismatches between the two platforms' function signatures and parameters as a limitation of their conversion module. This was a research integration, rather than a general export format listed in OpenSpace3D's standard export manual.[25][16]

References

  1. ↑ "About". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/about.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "OpenSpace3D platform presentation". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/platform.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Version History". OpenSpace3D. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/version-history/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  4. ↑ "Scene Tree and Resources". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/scenetree.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 "Software Overview". OpenSpace3D. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/openspace3d-software-overview/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Import a scene or model". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/importscene.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  7. ↑ "Input PlugITs content page". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/plugits/input/index.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Function Editing Interface". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/interfacefunctions.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  9. ↑ "Link parameters". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/linksparameters.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  10. ↑ "OpenXR PlugIT". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/plugits/input/openxr.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  11. ↑ "AR marker PlugIT". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/plugits/input/armarker.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  12. ↑ "3D configuration". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/3dconfig.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "Download". OpenSpace3D. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/download-software-openspace3d/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  14. ↑ "OpenSpace3D documentation". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/index.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  15. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "Exporting an OpenSpace3D Application". OpenSpace3D documentation. https://www.openspace3d.com/documentation/en/exportscene.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  16. ↑ "Resources". OpenSpace3D. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/resources-software/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  17. ↑ "OpenSpace3D source directory". OpenSpace3D Subversion repository. https://svn.openspace3d.com/trunk/scol_applications/openspace3d/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  18. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "OpenSpace3D Editor source header". OpenSpace3D Subversion repository. https://svn.openspace3d.com/trunk/scol_applications/openspace3d/os3deditor/os3deditor.pkg. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  19. ↑ "Terms and Conditions". OpenSpace3D. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/terms-conditions-use-sales/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  20. ↑ "GNU Lesser General Public License, Version 3". OpenSpace3D Subversion repository. https://svn.openspace3d.com/trunk/scol_applications/openspace3d/os3deditor/COPYING.LESSER.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  21. ↑ "Openspace3D 1.90". OpenSpace3D. 2023-03-01. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/openspace3d-1-90/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  22. ↑ "Openspace3D 1.93". OpenSpace3D. 2024-12-20. https://www.openspace3d.com/en/openspace3d-1-93-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  23. ↑ Hamada El Kabtane; Mohamed El Adnani; Mohamed Sadgal; Youssef Mourdi (2016). "An Augmented Reality Approach to Integrate Practical Activities in E-Learning Systems". International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications 7 (2): 107-117. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  24. ↑ Youssef Mourdi; Mohamed Sadgal; Wafaa Berrada Fathi; Hamada El Kabtane (2018). "OpenSimulator based Multi-User Virtual World: A Framework for the Creation of Distant and Virtual Practical Activities". International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications 9 (8): 175-186. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
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