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Open Brush

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Open Brush
Information
Type 3D painting application
Industry Virtual reality art
Developer Icosa Foundation and community contributors
Operating System Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
License Apache License 2.0
Supported Devices SteamVR and OpenXR PC VR headsets, Meta Quest, Pico, Steam Frame, Zapbox; non-VR monoscopic mode
Release Date January 2021 (first experimental build); June 8, 2021 (Steam)
Website https://openbrush.app


Open Brush is a free, open-source room-scale 3D painting application for virtual reality and mixed reality headsets. It is a community-maintained fork of Tilt Brush, the VR painting program that Google released as open source under the Apache 2.0 license on January 26, 2021, when it stopped active development.[1][2] The fork is maintained by the Icosa Foundation, the group that also runs Icosa Gallery, an open-source replacement for Google's discontinued Poly 3D model service, and Open Blocks, a continuation of Google Blocks.[3]

Open Brush is distributed at no cost on Steam, the Meta Quest Store, the Pico Store, Viveport, SideQuest, Itch.io and GitHub.[2][4] Since version 2.0 in January 2023 it has run on OpenXR, which let the project add standalone headsets from Pico and, later, Valve's Steam Frame.[5][6] Later releases added a Quest passthrough mode, a Lua plugin system, cross-platform multiplayer painting and Gaussian splat capture tools.[7][8] The current stable release is 2.32.0, published on September 1, 2026.[9]

Reviewed 20 September 2026. Fork history and release dates, version features, store listings and ratings, device support, Icosa Foundation details and every cited source. About review dates.

History

Tilt Brush goes open source

Tilt Brush was created by the studio Skillman & Hackett, acquired by Google in 2015 and launched on the HTC Vive in 2016; its last major update arrived in March 2020.[10] On January 26, 2021, Google's Tim Aidley and Jon Corralejo announced that the full source code was available on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license, that Tilt Brush was "not an actively developed product, and no pull requests will be accepted", and that some features had been removed for licensing reasons.[1] Because Tilt Brush is a Google trademark, forks must use a different name.[10] The Open Brush README repeats this point: the Tilt Brush trademark and logo are treated separately from the copyright and patent grants in the Apache-licensed repositories.[11]

Fork and first releases (2021)

The Open Brush repository was created on January 26, 2021, the same day as Google's announcement.[12] Road to VR reported three days later that the team behind Icosa Gallery had published Open Brush as a free experimental build on itch.io for SteamVR headsets. The first build enabled hidden brushes that Google had never shipped, lacked an eraser, and was accompanied by a Quest version said to be in development.[13] Other Tilt Brush derivatives appeared at the same time, including SideSketch for Quest and Silk Brush for WebXR; a separate paid fork with collaborative painting, MultiBrush, launched on App Lab in February 2021 and reached the Oculus Store for Quest in January 2022 at US$19.99.[14]

Open Brush reached the Quest through App Lab and then arrived on Steam on June 8, 2021.[15][16] The Steam release added integration with the LIV mixed reality capture software and a Fly tool for moving through a scene; the team said it planned Icosa Gallery integration and a move from the Unity 2019 SteamVR setup to Unity's XR framework.[15] Icosa Gallery itself launched in beta in June 2021, seven days before Google Poly shut down on June 30, 2021.[17] In a January 2022 retrospective, maintainer Mike Nisbet wrote that Open Brush had passed 90,000 downloads across Steam, SideQuest, App Lab, the Oculus Rift store, Viveport and itch.io during 2021.[18]

Version 1.0 and the XR rewrite (2022-2023)

Version 1.0 shipped on January 26, 2022, the first anniversary of the fork, with grid and angle snapping, jitter controls for color, size and position, a "Lazy Input" smoothing mode for slow strokes, and an external API for controlling the app programmatically.[14][18] CG Channel noted at the time that sketches could be exported as FBX, glTF, USD or JSON and that a Unity SDK existed for using them in game engines.[19] In February 2022 the team showed footage of a Quest passthrough painting mode that depended on the still-unfinished OpenXR port.[20]

Version 2.0 followed on January 26, 2023. The release notes describe a year of work moving the project to Unity's XR plugin framework, with the desktop and Quest builds "fully powered by OpenXR".[5][21] It added passthrough on Quest, a layer system with up to eight layers, Snip and Join stroke-editing tools, pressure-sensitive brushes, PLY point cloud and WebM video import, and folded the previous experimental builds into the main release behind a toggle. The team reported that complex sketches that had run at 5 fps reached 50 fps.[21][22] Pico and Vive XR Elite ports were in development at the time.[22]

Multiplayer, plugins and later releases (2024-2026)

Version 2.4 "Prismatic" (January 26, 2024) added localization into seven languages, a Multi-Mirror symmetry tool, an in-VR keyboard and a Transform panel.[23] Versions 2.8 and 2.9 (2024) merged the monoscopic non-VR mode into the main release and added Pico support to the generic OpenXR Android build.[24]

Multiplayer arrived on April 30, 2025 in version 2.10. Room owners can mute or remove participants or set them to view-only, and the first release supported the paint and eraser tools only.[25] Road to VR reported that sessions work across Quest and SteamVR headsets and quoted Nisbet: "Support for live collaboration is our most frequently requested feature."[26] The same release added support for the Logitech MX Ink stylus on Meta Quest and let users erase imported images and models, not just strokes.[27]

Version 2.13 "Lucky Number" (December 9, 2025) introduced a plugin system based on small Lua scripts, import of MagicaVoxel .vox files and Open Blocks models, splitting of imported meshes into their connected parts, a saved-stroke gallery, one-click publishing of sketches as browser-based worlds on HTC's Viverse platform, and camera path rendering on standalone headsets.[7] Versions 2.30 and 2.31 (August 2026) added portals that link one sketch to another, camera paths drawn by hand or recorded with the Fly tool, Gaussian capture widgets that generate consistent camera viewpoints with color and depth output for Gaussian splatting tools, multiplayer rooms of up to 12 people with passthrough rooms and manual colocation, a dedicated view-only interface, 360-degree and depth snapshots, and offline panorama rendering up to 8K wide.[8] Version 2.32.0 on September 1, 2026 added brush mesh fixtures; pre-release builds continued through 2.32.21 on September 20, 2026.[9][28]

Version Date Notable changes
Experimental build January 2021 First itch.io release for SteamVR; hidden Google brushes enabled[13]
Steam release June 8, 2021 LIV mixed reality capture, Fly tool[15][16]
1.0 January 26, 2022 Snapping, jitter, Lazy Input, external API[14]
2.0 January 26, 2023 OpenXR, Quest passthrough, layers, Snip and Join, pressure brushes[5][21]
2.4 January 26, 2024 Seven languages, Multi-Mirror, XR keyboard, Transform panel[23]
2.8 and 2.9 2024 Monoscopic mode in main build, Pico in generic OpenXR build[24]
2.10 April 30, 2025 Multiplayer, Logitech MX Ink, widget erasing[25][27]
2.13 December 9, 2025 Lua plugins, .vox and Open Blocks import, Viverse publishing[7]
2.30 and 2.31 August 2026 Portals, Gaussian splat capture, 12-person multiplayer, view-only interface[8]
2.32.0 September 1, 2026 Brush mesh fixtures; current stable release[9]

Features

Open Brush keeps Tilt Brush's core interaction: the user holds a brush in one hand and a palette of panels in the other and paints strokes in room-scale VR. The store listings describe 48 brush types, including fire, water, smoke and light beams, and a set of environments such as outer space and a snowy scene.[16][29]

Sketches are saved locally in the .tilt format under Documents/Open Brush/Sketches. They can be uploaded from inside the app to Icosa Gallery, Sketchfab or Viverse, exported as FBX, OBJ or glTF, or captured as snapshots, five-second GIFs, videos with direct YouTube upload, and 360-degree videos.[30] The media library accepts PNG, JPEG, HDR and SVG images; MP4, MKV, MOV and WebM video; and glTF, GLB, OBJ, PLY and VOX models on all platforms, with FBX and experimental USD import limited to PC and Mac.[31]

Plugins are Lua scripts placed in the Open Brush/Plugins folder. Four kinds exist: pointer plugins alter the motion, size or color of a stroke; symmetry plugins replicate strokes in arbitrary arrangements; tool plugins implement new tools; and background plugins run continuously, and several can be active at once.[32]

Multiplayer rooms hold between 2 and 12 people, with a default maximum of 4, and include spatial voice chat, per-participant muting, owner-assigned view-only status, passthrough rooms in which each headset shows its own camera feed, and a manual colocation step for people sharing a physical space. The documentation advises that everyone in a room use the same version of the app.[33]

The Logitech MX Ink stylus works with Open Brush on the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S running Quest OS v69 or later. The app records the stylus tip and middle-button pressure so that compatible brushes can vary stroke size or opacity, and shows an MX Ink model in place of the corresponding Touch controller.[34]

A monoscopic mode runs the app on non-VR devices, and the view-only mode works both in VR and on a flat screen for exhibitions and shared headsets; the team notes that the app works as a sketch viewer on Mac, PC and Android devices without VR hardware.[8][7]

Supported devices

The documentation lists the HTC Vive, Vive Pro and Vive Cosmos, Valve Index, Oculus Rift and Rift S, Meta Quest over Link or Air Link, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, the HP Reverb G2, Pimax headsets and any OpenXR-compatible PC VR headset, plus a Steam note that VR is not supported on macOS or Linux.[6][16] Standalone builds cover the Oculus Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S and Meta Quest Pro; the Pico Neo 3, Pico 4, Pico 4 Pro and Pico 4 Ultra; Steam Frame, with native controller profiles; and Zapbox, a mixed reality kit for mobile phones. The Quest build carries Meta-specific features such as passthrough, while a generic Android OpenXR APK also runs on Quest and Pico; a separate Chinese Pico build omits cloud sign-in services.[6]

Store Platform Notes
Steam Windows PC VR (SteamVR or OpenXR) Released June 8, 2021; free; 94% of 157 user reviews positive as of September 2026[16]
Meta Quest Store Meta Quest Free; 4.2 stars from 401 reviews; rated 3+[35]
Meta Rift store Oculus Rift (PC VR) 4.2 stars from 23 reviews[36]
PICO Store Pico Neo3 Link, Neo3 Pro, Neo3 Eye, Pico 4, Pico 4 Ultra, Pico 4 Pro, Pico Space Pro Version 2.10.0 listed April 27, 2025; 97% positive from 36 reviews[29]
Viveport PC VR Listed as Viveport Desktop in the project README[11]
Itch.io Windows, macOS, Android (Quest APK) Stable and beta builds; Windows Explorer thumbnail extension[37]
SideQuest and GitHub Quest and generic Android OpenXR APKs Official and pre-release builds[11]

Icosa Foundation

The Icosa Foundation develops free, open-source tools for creating, sharing and preserving 3D content; MIXED describes it as a non-profit.[38] It formed around the effort to replace Google Poly after that service's closure was announced and now maintains Open Brush, Open Blocks, Icosa Gallery and a player for Quill's IMM animation format. It collects donations through Open Collective with Open Source Collective as fiscal host; the listed administrators include Mike Nisbet and Andy Baker.[3] A 2026 press release from HTC's Viverse names Baker as lead developer of Open Brush.[39]

Icosa Gallery, released under the Apache 2.0 license, restored much of Poly's public content in collaboration with Archive Team volunteers and the Internet Archive, and has publishing built into Open Brush and Open Blocks plus plugins for Blender and Godot.[40] NLnet lists an Icosa Gallery project under its NGI Zero Commons Fund for June 2025 to May 2026 that covers work on Open Brush, Open Blocks and the gallery; the foundation's own site describes the funding as coming from NGI0 Entrust, an NLnet fund backed by the European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme.[41][42]

Reception and use

In May 2026 Viverse and Open Brush announced the winners of their first global Immersive Art Jam, in which artists painted works on the theme "what reminds you of home" in Open Brush and published them to Viverse as browser-based WebXR scenes. The judges were Baker and the VR artists Sutu and Aimi Sekiguchi, and entries were scored on concept, craft and optimization.[39] Coverage of the multiplayer release by MIXED noted that Open Brush is free and cross-platform, in contrast to the paid MultiBrush fork.[38] UploadVR observed in 2022 that the free Open Brush already had more features than the original Tilt Brush, which still sold for US$19.99 on the Oculus Store.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tim Aidley and Jon Corralejo (2021-01-26). "The future of Tilt Brush". Google Open Source Blog. Google. https://opensource.googleblog.com/2021/01/the-future-of-tilt-brush.html. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "icosa-foundation/open-brush: Open Brush is the open source, community led evolution of Tilt Brush". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Icosa Foundation". Open Collective. https://opencollective.com/icosa. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  4. ↑ "Open Brush". Open Brush. Icosa Foundation. https://openbrush.app/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Open Brush v2.0 Update!". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2023-01-26. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Platform and device support". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/user-guide/platform-and-device-support. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "v2.13 "Lucky Number"". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2025-12-09. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 "v2.31 released". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2026-08-29. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Release 2.32.0". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. 2026-09-01. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush/releases/tag/2.32.0. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Scott Hayden (2021-01-27). "Google Makes 'Tilt Brush' Open Source as Active Development Comes to a Halt". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/google-tilt-brush-open-source/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "open-brush/README.md". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush/blob/main/README.md. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  12. ↑ "Repository metadata for icosa-foundation/open-brush". GitHub API. GitHub. https://api.github.com/repos/icosa-foundation/open-brush. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Scott Hayden (2021-01-29). "'Tilt Brush' Derivative Apps Come to PC VR & Quest Mere Hours After Google Open Sources". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/tilt-brush-open-source-pc-vr-quest-2-webxr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Harry Baker (2022-01-28). "MultiBrush Releases On Quest Store, Open Brush Gets 1.0 Update". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/multibrush-open-brush-updates/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Harry Baker (2021-06-10). "An Open Source Version Of Tilt Brush Is Now Available For Free On PC VR". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/tilt-brush-open-free-pc-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 "Open Brush on Steam". Steam. Valve. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1634870/Open_Brush/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  17. ↑ Harry Baker (2021-06-23). "Icosa Gallery Beta Launches For As Open-Source Replacement For Google Poly". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/icosa-gallery-beta/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Mike Nisbet (2022-01-08). "2021 Retrospective and Open Brush 1.0!". Open Collective. Icosa Foundation. https://opencollective.com/icosa/updates/2021-retrospective-and-open-brush-1-0. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  19. ↑ Jim Thacker (2022-02-24). "Download free virtual reality 3D sketching app Open Brush". CG Channel. https://www.cgchannel.com/2022/02/download-free-virtual-reality-3d-sketching-app-open-brush/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Harry Baker (2022-02-11). "Open Brush Shares Footage Of Quest AR Passthrough Mode, Coming Soon". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/open-brush-passthrough-ar/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 "v2.0: XR Update". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/release-history/v2.0-xr-update. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Jim Thacker (2023-01-27). "Download open-source VR sketching tool Open Brush 2.0". CG Channel. https://www.cgchannel.com/2023/01/download-open-source-vr-sketching-tool-open-brush-2-0/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "v2.4 "Prismatic"". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2024-01-26. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "v2.8 "Import/Export" and v2.9 (minor hotfix)". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2024-09-20. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Multiplayer support is now live!". Steam Community. Icosa Foundation. 2025-04-30. https://steamcommunity.com/app/1634870/allnews/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  26. ↑ Scott Hayden (2025-05-06). "'Open Brush' Gets Multiplayer Mode, Bringing Collaborative Art to Free 'Tilt Brush' Successor". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/open-brush-gets-multiplayer-mode-in-free-update-bringing-collaborative-art-to-tilt-brush-successor/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Jim Thacker (2025-05-01). "Open Brush 2.10 adds 'multiplayer' VR painting". CG Channel. https://www.cgchannel.com/2025/05/open-brush-2-10-adds-multiplayer-vr-painting/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  28. ↑ "Releases: icosa-foundation/open-brush". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush/releases. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Open Brush". PICO Store. Pico. https://store-global.picoxr.com/global/detail/1/7246792261630050310. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  30. ↑ "Saving and sharing your Open Brush sketches". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/user-guide/saving-and-sharing-your-open-brush-sketches. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  31. ↑ "Importing images, videos and 3D models". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/user-guide/importing-images-videos-3d-models. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  32. ↑ "Using plugins". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/user-guide/using-plugins. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  33. ↑ "Multiplayer". Open Brush Docs. Icosa Foundation. https://docs.openbrush.app/user-guide/multiplayer. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  34. ↑ "Logitech MX Ink". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/open-brush-docs/blob/master/user-guide/logitech-mx-ink.md. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  35. ↑ "Open Brush - 3D Painting on Meta Quest". Meta Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/open-brush-3d-painting/3600360710032222/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  36. ↑ "Open Brush on Oculus Rift". Meta Store. Meta Platforms. https://www.meta.com/experiences/pcvr/open-brush/5227489953989768/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  37. ↑ "Open Brush by icosa-gallery". itch.io. Icosa Foundation. https://openbrush.itch.io/openbrush. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Tomislav Bezmalinovic (2025-04-30). "Tilt Brush's open-source successor now supports multiplayer". MIXED. https://mixed-news.com/en/open-brush-multiplayer/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 "VIVERSE and Open Brush Immersive Art Jam: 2026 VR Art Winners". Yahoo Finance. Business Wire. 2026-05-14. https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/viverse-open-brush-immersive-art-160000736.html. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  40. ↑ "icosa-foundation/icosa-gallery". GitHub. Icosa Foundation. https://github.com/icosa-foundation/icosa-gallery. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  41. ↑ "Icosa Gallery". NLnet Foundation. https://nlnet.nl/project/Icosa-Gallery/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
  42. ↑ "Icosa Foundation". Icosa Foundation. https://icosa.foundation/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
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