Designed for use with the Meta 2 headset, Meta Viewer™ Beta enables even non-technical users to view and interact with 3D CAD models in augmented reality

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 31, 2018 — Meta Company, a pioneer in the augmented reality (AR) field, released the company’s first software application, the Meta Viewer™ Beta, and unveiled future functionality including collaboration and voice command. Designed to run on the Meta 2 headset, Meta Viewer^TM Beta allows users to easily open and visualize AR-ready 3D CAD models while keeping the integrity of the model and design information. The news was shared by Joe Mikhail, chief revenue officer at Meta, at Augmented Reality World (AWE) in Santa Clara during a keynote session that also featured a live demonstration of Meta Viewer™ Beta.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180531005324/en/

Meta Viewer Beta at AWE (Photo: Business Wire)

Meta Viewer^TM Beta enables everyone in the product development chain -- from designers to salespeople -- to utilize the tool without requiring any specialty technical skills. The result is a shortened design and production timeline, reduced product development cost, and improved sales conversion, which holds the promise of accelerating time-to-market and decreasing total customer acquisition costs.

Meta’s new app enables users to bridge the gap between CAD models and physical counterparts by allowing users to quickly and easily share their design vision digitally before the physical design stage begins. This can improve and shorten the design timeline by generating insights that can only occur in 3D, ensuring early design validation and approvals that ultimately shorten the product life cycle. Additionally, Meta Viewer^TM Beta keep the integrity of supported model formats while reducing the loss of key design information that can normally occur when converting 3D CAD models into AR-ready files.

Key benefits of Meta Viewer^TM Beta:

• Supports 3D model viewing in multiple file formats - Khronos gITF 2.0, SOLIDWORKS gITF, SLDASM, SLDPRT, STEP and STP.
• Use hands to perform basic model interactions including moving, rotating or scaling an image
• View and directly apply display states and animation to supported model formats (currently SOLIDWORKS gITF). This includes:
  • Animations such as exploded view animations and motion study
  • Materials and colors
  • Display states that allow for different material and part configurations
• View supported model formats in real-world 1:1 scale (currently SOLIDWORKS gITF).

“The Meta 2 headset and Meta Viewer^TM Beta combination provides our customers with the most immersive, real-time visualization and interaction with 3D designs and models,” said Mikhail. “Utilizing these products drastically changes the product development lifecycle by reducing costs and saving time through quick and easy collaboration. The result is faster time-to-market and decreased customer acquisition cost.”

The Meta Viewer^TM Beta app will be available to download this week from the Meta website at www.metavision.com.

Meta 2 Development Kit

Whether designing a shoe or a satellite, the Meta 2 Development Kit allows users to grab, move, and scale photorealistic 3D CAD files, enhancing the 3D design and presentation process. This enables designers and engineers to effectively validate and evaluate their designs within context, and allows sales and training professionals to create immersive experiences that lead to faster and better understanding of their products.

Meta began shipping the Meta 2 Development Kit in late 2016. The Meta platform and AR technology holds promise in application to numerous markets, such as product design and manufacturing; architecture, engineering and construction (AEC); healthcare; education; automotive; and aerospace. The Meta 2 is available to order at buy.metavision.com.

About Meta

Born in NYC and raised in Silicon Valley, Meta has been defining the field of AR since the company’s inception in 2012. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Meta was selected by Y Combinator (YC13) for seed funding. Meta entered the marketplace with the first see-through glasses that allowed wearers to move and manipulate 3D content intuitively, using natural hand interactions. With the launch of the groundbreaking Meta 2 Development Kit in 2016, Meta is once again redefining the market and delivering a new generation of Natural Machines™ that will become a healthy, vital extension of who we are. Learn more at www.metavision.com .