3DSpaces

At the heart of instant3Dhub lies the 3DSpace, a spatial workspace that connects people, 3D Data Resources and applications. A 3DSpace is not only a container for geometry or metadata, but a live environment that transforms static engineering content into interactive, collaborative experiences. It is where design, review, and decision making happen together, using data streamed directly from the source.

Example Use Cases

  • Engineering and Design Reviews: Designer prepares a 3DSpace with his latest version of a new part and shares it with engineers for feedback and issue tracking.

  • Ramp Up Management: Engineering Lead presents a new series of assemblies to the plant operators to optimize positioning of fastening points or holds during the design phase.

  • Sales Presentation: Sales Representative configures and presents a custom variant of a large manufacturing line to a new customer.

A 3DSpace combines two types of content:

  • Resources represent referenced 3D Data Resources, typically sourced from external CAD and PLM systems that hold product structure, geometry, metadata and so on.

  • 3DSpace Entities, authored context layered on top of the referenced data. Examples include markups, measurements, snapshots, and other artifacts.

Their relationship can be explained rather simply - the 3D Data Resources is the context, the entities define the experience.

3DSpaces are designed as stateful collaboration environments backed by scalable, event-driven infrastructure.

  • Every change—presence update, markup creation or measurement—is published as an event.

  • Clients subscribe to the event stream to maintain a consistent state.

  • Currently, 3DSpaces always persist authored content. In the future, 3DSpaces will optionally operate transiently for ephemeral sessions such as quick reviews.

Streaming Architecture

instant3Dhub references and streams source data on demand, only loading what is needed at runtime. This avoids duplication, keeps the footprint small, and ensures 3DSpaces always reflect the current data state in your upstream systems. See 3D Streaming for details.

InstanceGraph

Within each 3DSpace the InstanceGraph provides the addressable structure that connects referenced resources and entities. This graph is the backbone for selection, filtering, and cross referencing by applications and members.

Collaboration with the SpaceAPI and MemberAPI

3DSpaces are collaborative by design. Release 3.12 introduces the foundational SpaceAPI that makes 3DSpaces and their authored context manageable and reusable across teams, applications and users. With the MemberAPI, synchronous collaboration and co-navigation becomes not only possible but intuitive.

SpaceAPI Programmatic creation, management and sharing of 3DSpaces.

  • Create, clone, read, update, and delete spaces with addressable IDs and rich metadata.

  • Define behavior such as persistence and retention.

  • Share 3DSpaces with other apps or users via Space Handles.

MemberAPI Programmatic creation and management of participants as members. Also, enables synchronous collaboration and guided co-navigation.

  • Join and leave a 3DSpace as well as enumerate current members and their metadata.

  • Follow and unfollow another member’s camera to enable presenter or spotlight modes.

  • In Flight: Ping locations, 3D data, or entities to direct attention with visual cues.

  • Exploring: Prepare for presence indicators on cursors and resources.