Google Tilt Brush Goes Open Source

Tilt Brush is a virtual-reality painting application from Google that has been used by various creators over the years. Some of those creators are part of the Google Artist in Residence Program. Google says it wants to continue supporting artists using Tilt Brush by putting the application into the hands of everyone.

That means Tilt Brush is going open-source allowing everyone to learn how Google built the project and encourage users to take the software in other directions. Tilt Brush originally launched on the SteamVR platform for the HTC Vive VR headset in April 2016. It was used to help users create artwork on every major VR platform.

The open-source archive of Tilt Brush is available here. Google notes that it's not an actively developed product, and no pull requests will be accepted. Uses are allowed to use, distribute, and modify Tilt Brush code in accordance with the Apache 2.0 license that it's released under. Google says that to release the software open source, it had to change or remove a few things due to licensing restrictions.

In most of those instances, Google did document the process for adding the features back using a build guide. Right out-of-the-box, the code available in the open-source archive compiles a working version of Tilt Brush, and the only thing users need to do is add the SteamVR Unity SDK.

Google says the currently published version of Tilt Brush will remain available in digital stores for users of supported VR headsets. Users can create their own experience with the software using a build guide and the code available for download. The code is available at no cost.