LightTools 2026 New Features

LightTools 2026 introduces significant new capabilities and productivity enhancements for illumination and optical system design. This video provides an overview of the latest release and demonstrates how engineers can improve design workflows, accelerate simulations, and create more realistic visualizations of optical systems.

One of the major additions in LightTools 2026 is VisionSym integration. VisionSym is a physics-based photorealistic visualization module that enables users to render realistic images of models created in LightTools. Users can place models within realistic environments, quickly adjust luminance camera viewpoints, and generate near-instant visualizations using different light sources and visualization modes. This capability helps engineers better understand product appearance and lighting performance during the design process.

The release also introduces GPU-accelerated forward ray tracing. By leveraging Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), users can significantly reduce simulation times for ray-tracing analyses. The video highlights that simulation speed improvements can be substantial depending on available hardware, helping engineers evaluate more design iterations in less time. GPU acceleration is also compatible with VisionSym workflows and supports forward ray tracing simulations.

Another key enhancement is the new AR Waveguide Designer. This application-oriented feature simplifies the creation of first-order waveguide designs and automatically generates corresponding LightTools models. The feature is designed to support geometrical and diffractive waveguide systems commonly used in augmented reality glasses and near-eye displays. Engineers can visualize how light propagates through waveguide structures and interacts with multiple gratings throughout the optical system.

LightTools 2026 also expands support for meta-optic simulations through a new grating type designed for modeling meta-optic behavior. Engineers can import optical systems containing meta-optic information or create meta-optic structures directly within LightTools. The software maps relevant information and reproduces ray-tracing behavior associated with meta-optic components and meta-lens designs that utilize nanometer-scale structures to achieve desired diffractive optical effects.

Additional enhancements include expanded receiver-copying functionality, improved library support, new surface set capabilities, ray-path controls, entity management improvements, CAD interoperability enhancements, and new data exchange modules for NX, Creo, and Rhino platforms. LightTools 2026 also adds improvements related to diffractive optical properties, thin-film coatings, and other workflow optimization features that further enhance usability and design efficiency.

In closing, LightTools 2026 helps optical engineers accelerate simulation, improve visualization fidelity, streamline design workflows, and support the development of advanced illumination, display, and optical systems.