Future Work

These are possible ideas for future work and new features.

Current Priorities

Downloadable binaries for Linux, macOS, Windows.: So you don't need to build the program from source. Add a Windows port, because lots of potential users are there.
gcurv GUI: A 3 pane GUI program similar to OpenSCAD or libfive Studio. So you don't need the CLI to launch Curv.
STL file export: So you can 3D print your models. Look at: libfive mesh generation. Ideally, generate the mesh on the GPU using OpenCL: should be much faster.
STL file import: A two step process: Use a separate program to convert the mesh to a discrete SDF file. Then import the SDF file from a Curv program. Look at: mTec.
Optimizing shape compiler: Generates optimized GLSL code for faster rendering. Extends the subset of Curv that can be used to write distance functions.
Optimized geometry pipeline: Instead of generating a monolithic fragment shader, generate a pipeline of shaders and compute kernels, and use optimizations from mTec. Faster, more scaleable rendering. But note: mTec requires OpenGL 4.3, macOS is stuck at OpenGL 4.1. If feasible, geometry engine should support "basic" and "advanced" modes so that macOS is still supported.

Tutorial and cookbook.
The reference manual uses images to illustrate each graphics primitive.
Interactive documentation.
- Eg, shapes/Colour.rst contains an interactive colour picker for each colour space.
- Eg, the shape library documentation contains interactive images of the results of each graphics primitive, where you can tweak model parameters in each example using sliders.
- Like in the Book of Shaders, https://thebookofshaders.com/

Tools for visualizing models for 3D printing.
- Eg, colouring the surface, based on Z component of the surface normal, to show areas of the model with too much overhang.
See shapes/Future_Work.rst, and also the "Future Work" sections in individual shape library topics.

A 3 panel OpenSCAD-like GUI (editor, console, graphics pane). http://www.openscad.org/
4th panel is a browser, for discovering shape operations, using search or by navigating a classification tree.
A "Book of Shaders" style editor: you can tweak model parameters graphically, directly in the source code view. https://thebookofshaders.com/ and https://github.com/patriciogonzalezvivo/glslEditor
IDE-style auto completion in editor.

A program may import Curv values from the internet by specifying a package URL, package version, relative pathname. Similar to Rust Cargo.
Use google to find new Curv packages on the internet. Packages may be manually installed, or implicitly installed by being dependencies of another package.
The GUI browser lets you browse installed packages.

STL export, for 3D printing.
Animated GIF export.
Offline conversion of STL files to discrete SDF files, plus import of discrete SDF files.
Image file import.
Performance improvements.
- An optimizing GL compiler, which outputs optimized GLSL/OpenCL code.
- A language primitive for rendering a shape to a discrete SDF object. Can be used to speed up interactive rendering if a subshape has an expensive distance field.
- Can a GPU graphics pipeline speed up rendering? Some projects that use signed distance fields are known to do this for performance, eg:
  - Dreams by Media Molecule: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9KNtnCZDMI
  - mTec: https://github.com/xx3000/mTec/blob/master/Mroz_DistanceFields.pdf
- Investigate recursive subdivision and interval arithmetic as an alternative (or adjunct?) to sphere tracing. Like Matt Keeter's libfive, except in a compute shader.