A physically-based GPU ray tracer written in Julia

In plain words

A physically-based GPU ray tracer that ports pbrt-v4 to Julia and integrates with the Makie plotting backend. It enables photorealistic rendering of any Makie visualization through path tracing. Users can extend the tracer with custom materials and physics by writing Julia code, which compiles directly to GPU kernels; complex effects like gravitational lensing require minimal code. The tool runs on AMD, NVIDIA, and CPU hardware via KernelAbstractions.jl, with Metal support planned. It targets graphics programmers and researchers working with Julia.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

We're excited to announce RayMakie and Hikari , a physically-based GPU ray tracing pipeline integrated directly into Makie . Any Makie scene can now be rendered with photorealistic path tracing: just swap out the backend and get global illumination, volumetric media, spectral rendering, and physically-based materials, all running on the GPU. All showcase scripts and demo scenes from this post are available at github.com/SimonDanisch/RayDemo . Note: RayMakie, Hikari, and Raycore are not fully released yet — we plan to publish official releases in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the Project.toml in RayDemo will be kept up to date so you can already try things out. Research groups across…from makie.org

• PA
  Physically accurate black hole you can put in your roomJul 2026 · blackhole.plav.in · ▲477

  We have a black hole at home — with actual relativistic physics, live in your browser. I'm Sasha (Alexander) Plavin, an astrophysicist at Harvard's Black Hole Initiative studying quasars and black hole environments. I work with raytracing/radiative transfer simulations professionally, and wanted to make one anyone can play with — so I built this app. Put the black hole onto your screen (any browser), or directly into your room with AR or VR (requires WebXR, for example Chrome on Android, or any VR headset). When looking around, pay attention to unintuitive relativistic effects: rays…

• 
  I've made a Monte-Carlo raytracer for glTF scenes in WebGPU2024 · github.com · ▲131

  This is a GPU "software" raytracer (i.e. using manual ray-scene intersections and not RTX) written using the WebGPU API that renders glTF scenes. It supports many materials, textures, material & normal mapping, and heavily relies on multiple importance sampling to speed up convergence.

• 
  Wave-based non-line-of-sight computational imaging in Julia2019 · analytech-solutions.com · ▲375

  An introduction to non-line-of-sight imaging, and how to create images of hidden objects around a corner in under 10 minutes!

• 
  I wrote a C++ ray tracer from scratch without AIJun 2026 · github.com · ▲155

  C++ Path Tracer from scratch with zero third-party libraries. - themartiano/luz

• 
  Physically-Based GPU Pathtracer with Mitsuba XML Support2021 · github.com · ▲63

  GPU Raytracer from scratch in C++/CUDA. Contribute to jan-van-bergen/GPU-Raytracer development by creating an account on GitHub.

• 
  a Rust ray tracer that runs on any GPU – even in the browserNov 2025 · github.com · ▲95

  I’ve been experimenting with Rust lately and wanted a project that would help me explore some of its lower-level and performance-oriented features. Inspired by Sebastian Lague’s videos, I decided to implement my own ray tracer from scratch. The initial goal was just to render a simple 3D scene in the browser at a reasonable frame rate. It evolved into a small renderer that can: • Run locally or on the web using wgpu and WebAssembly • Perform mesh rendering with a Bounding Volume Hierarchy (BVH) for acceleration • Simulate both direct and indirect illumination for photorealistic results • Be…

• 
  /dev/null▲483

  a social network for devs

  Dev tools · 3d ago · dev-null.sh

• 
  Whiteboard (YC W26) – an open-source IDE for thoughtful software design▲423

  open-source IDE for thoughtful software design. Contribute to devdotfast/whiteboard development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 27d ago · github.com

• 
  Reladraw – A diagram language where you decide where to place things▲411

  Contribute to reladraw/reladraw development by creating an account on GitHub.

  Dev tools · 25d ago · github.com

• 
  OpenBot▲362

  Grok Bot alternative: free, local, open-source, multiplayer

  Dev tools · 23d ago · openbot.run

• 
  Talanoa▲345

  Hi HN, I’m a fullstack developer, and honestly, I’ve lost count of how many side projects I’ve worked on over the years. But one idea kept coming back to me: a different kind of email client. It first came to me in 2014: “What if we could handle emails more like conversations?” Every year, I’d revisit this concept in my “Build Notes.” Ten years later, no one had built exactly what I had in mind — so I finally decided to do it myself. That’s how Talanoa was born. I wanted something focused on people, not timelines. I was tired of marking messages as unread just to remember to reply later, or…

  Dev tools · 20d ago · talanoa.email

• 
  CoreSpeed▲332

  One MCP for everything your agents need: apps, memory, tools

  Dev tools · 28d ago · corespeed.io

• 
  Rork Max▲1,428

  Best AI for iOS apps. Website that replaces Xcode

  Life & fun · Feb 2026 · rork.com

• 
  happycapy▲1,365

  The agent-native computer, for the rest of us

  AI · Feb 2026 · happycapy.ai

• 
  SuperX▲897

  All-in-one growth OS for serious 𝕏 creators

  AI · Feb 2026 · superx.so

• 
  KiloClaw▲868

  Hosted OpenClaw. No Mac mini required.

  Dev tools · Feb 2026 · kilo.ai

• 
  Lovon AI Therapy▲801

  Feel closer and have more fun with your partner every day!

  AI · Feb 2026 · lovon.app

• 
  I spent 3 years reverse-engineering a 40 yo stock market sim from 1986▲721

  Hello my name is Ben Ward for the past 3 years I have been remastering the financial game Wall Street Raider created by Michael Jenkins originally on DOS in 1986. It has been a rough journey but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just recently redid the website and thought maybe the full story of how this project came to be would interest you all. Thank you for reading.

  Work · Feb 2026 · wallstreetraider.com