What is Odak?

Odak (pronounced "O-dac") is the fundamental library for scientific computing in optical sciences, computer graphics and visual perception.

Why does it exist?

This question has two answers. One of them is related to the history of Odak, which is partially answered in the next section. The other answer lies in what kind of submodules Odak has in it. Depending on a need of a scientist at all levels or a professional from the industry, these submodules can help the design processes in optics and visual perception.

Odak includes modules for geometric 3D raytracing, Jones calculus, wave optics, and a set of tools to ease pain in measurement, exporting/importing CAD, and visualization during a design process. We have generated a set of recipes that go well with machine learning approaches compatible with the PyTorch learning framework as provided here. We have created many test scripts to inspire how you use Odak and helping your design process. Finally, we have created a distribution system to process tasks in parallel across multiple computing resources within the same network. Odak can either run using CPUs or automatically switch to NVIDIA GPUs.

History

In the summer of 2011, I, Kaan Akşit, was a PhD student. At the time, I had some understanding of the Python programming language, and I created my first Python based computer game using pygame, a fantastic library, over a weekend in 2009. I was actively using Python to deploy packages for the Linux distribution that I supported at the time, Pardus. Meantime, that summer, I didn't have any internship or any vital task that I had to complete. I was super curious about the internals of the optical design software that I used at the time, ZEMAX. All of this lead to an exciting never-ending excursion that I still enjoy to this day, which I named Odak. Odak means focus in Turkish, and pronounced as O-dac.

The very first paper I read to build the pieces of Odak was General Ray tracing procedure" from G.H. Spencer and M.V.R.K Murty, an article on routines for raytracing, published at the Journal of the Optical Society of America, Issue 6, Volume 52, Page 672. It helped to add reflection and refraction functions required in a raytracing routine. I continuously add to Odak over my entire professional life. That little raytracing program I wrote in 2011 is now a vital library for my research, and much more than a raytracer.

I can write pages and pages about what happened next. You can accurately estimate what happened next by checking my website and my cv. But I think the most critical part is always the beginning as it can inspire many other people to follow their thoughts and build their own thing! I used Odak in my all published papers. When I look back, I can only say that I am thankful to 2011 me spending a part of his summer in front of a computer to code a raytracer for optical design. Odak is now more than a raytracer, expanding on many other aspects of light, including vision science, polarization optics, computer-generated holography or machine learning routines for light sciences. Odak keeps on growing thanks to a body of people that contributed over time. I will keep it growing in the future and will continually transform into the tool that I need to innovate. All of it is free as in free-free, and all is sharable as I believe in people.