Thangs has become the world’s largest 3D art community with more than 20 million monthly active users, according to creator Physna.
Another four million users have joined Thangs in the past month as 3D creators and their fans flock to the subscription service which gives them access to 3D model search, collaboration features, intellectual property protection and monetization.
Just a year ago, Thangs had about one million users. Now there are a bunch of Fortune 500 companies using it. That’s a great outcome for what was a small firm in Columbus, Ohio.
On Thangs, fans can find, share, and sell 3D models for the real and metaverse worlds.
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Thangs has quickly distanced itself from the pack based on its core technology that powers unmatched geometric search and collaboration capabilities, said Paul Powers, CEO of Physna, in an interview with GamesBeat. Thangs is breaking new ground by automatically protecting creators’ intellectual property, instantly finding any unauthorized use on the web – even if the name and image are completely changed.
Powers said the name “Physna” is short for physical DNA, a core concept to get at the underlying common traits of 3D imagery. With the service, subscribers can get access to Thangs 3D models and use them as they wish, and creators can get paid for their contributions that get used.
“We started allowing people to get paid for their IP last year,” Powers said.
These unique safeguards ensure that creators will protect their work and livelihoods as 3D gains a dominant share of the creator economy. The Creator Economy, currently estimated as a $250 billion industry, is expected to double in the next five years. Over this same period, 3D printing is expected to grow by three times and mixed reality is expected to grow by seven times. That means that the market for the things that Thangs can provide is going to get a lot bigger, Powers said.
Too often, artists learn their work has been stolen. But in this case, fans can subscribe to artists via Thangs in a way that is akin to Patreon. They can then use or 3D print whatever the artist makes.
“IP protection, which has always been the Achilles’ heel of 3D, has now become its strength,” said Powers. “As a result, Thangs has grown from one million to 20 million monthly active users in a single year. Powered by IP protection and a search engine that makes 3D content more discoverable, we are now substantially larger than any other platform in the 3D space.”
Thangs has rapidly emerged as the destination of choice for 3D creators to get discovered, gain a fanbase, and earn more income. Thangs is a magnet for designers, animators, and other professionals in the 3D space, as well as celebrities including Felicia Day and fan favorites like ForgeCore and MakeAnything.
“Due to our underlying geometric search engine, models are more discoverable on Thangs which result in higher revenue for our users,” said Powers.“Some designers who started only a few months ago already earn well over $500,000 a year via Thangs, and many are already tracking to exceed $1 million a year within the coming months. We will continue to advance our tools and capabilities to ensure that all of our users are able to build profitable businesses with 3D.”
Core technology
Thangs is owned by Physna, the creator of a geometric search engine. The company’s software bridges the gap between the physical world and digital code by codifying the 3D world through a deeper understanding of the physical properties of real-world objects and the relationships between them.
Physna’s patented technology creates a matrix of all geometrics and spatial relationships in a 3D object or model, and applies AI to normalize data, classify models, compare elements/components, and suggest tags. Now, for the first time, creators (Thangs) and enterprises like the DoD (Phsyna Enterprise) have a bankable source of truth for all 3D models, based solely on the model’s spatial logic and geometric reality, Powers said.
While Nvidia’s Omniverse is enabling companies using different tools to build “digital twins” or metaverse applications using the Pixar-created universal scene description (USD) file format — now in an open form — Powers said that Physna doesn’t care which file format developers use.
By breaking 3D models free of the confines of specific file format and allowing users to search by geometry, Physna’s patented technology solves many of the challenges that plague 3D and threaten to limit the future growth of XR, including standards, collaboration, discoverability, and IP protection, he said.
When it comes to standards, Powers said that Physna’s platform removes the need for the industry to standardize on a single file format. Physna preserves the geometric logic of the model and can instantly reconstruct it in any format (vs. trying to convert file types). It converts the image into the format the buyer needs to make it compatible with other 3D art. Many of the objects wind up being 3D printed.
“I don’t think we’ll get to agree on a standard. Everyone wants their thing to be the standard. We normalize it so it doesn’t matter,” he said.
He also said that Physna’s technology creates a GitHub for 3D – and in fact GitHub’s former CTO is on Physna’s board. And he said geometry is a universal language.
You and I can call the same item different things, and describe it in different ways. But if we know the object is the same (ie: a triangle is a triangle regardless of what you call it), we know that the descriptions are of the same object, and can break down semantics further.
The core technoloy enables true 3D search by geometry, automated labeling of digital assets based on shape, retrieval of 3D models with 2D images and photographs, and more. And this leads to the notion of IP protection. Powers said Physnas’s core tech powers Thangs with unparalleled IP safeguards for creators.
Thangs is breaking new ground by automatically protecting creators’ intellectual property, instantly finding any unauthorized use on the web – even if the name and image are completely changed.
Physna said it is building the 3D future of software, and has already improved engineering, industrial design, and procurement by putting new, powerful search capabilities in the hands of innovators and creators — one 3D model at a time.
Financial history
Physna is backed by Drive Capital, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, and GV Capital. To date, Physna has raised $82.9 million to date. It raised $6.9 million in 2019, $20 million in early 2021, and another $56 million in mid-2021.
So far, just a small percentage of users are uploading 3D objects. Right now, there are 22 million 3D models available on Thangs. Physna keeps about 12% to 14% of the transactions, but more people are subscribing instead of buying. If you subscribe to certain artists, Physna keeps 50% of the subscription fee.
Rivals include Sketchfab, which was acquired by Epic Games, but there are many Sketchfab images available on Thangs.
