LA-based graphics company Otoy has teamed up with software giants Mozilla and Autodesk to deliver state-of-the-art graphics and gaming applications running on AWS that can be accessed from any web browser.

According to Otoy’s press release:

“By deploying a high-performance, pre-configured ‘OctaneCloud Workstation’ AMI [Amazon Machine Image], design and engineering professionals can access Autodesk 3DS Max, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Inventor software to perform major design work without ever having to download a piece of software to their local PC,”

As well as the Autodesk Edition AMI, which gives users a 30-day free trial of Autodesk’s applications, Otoy has also unveiled a series of generic AMIs that companies can use to run their own workstation or gaming software in AWS on Linux or Windows operating systems. These AMIs each support GPU-accelerated graphics when run on AWS’ new G2 instances, which offer virtualized high-performance rendering thanks to the use of Nvidia GRID GPU adapters.

However, the real secret is Otoy’s new ORBX.js technology, a high-performance proprietary video codec written entirely in JavaScript which makes it possible to interact with graphics-intensive applications through any web browser. The company developed said the technology was developed together with Mozilla and Autodesk, and can be downloaded and executed by any modern browser without the need to install any plugins or other software. Of course, the performance of ORBX.js will depend on a number of factors, such as the browser’s JavaScript implementation and the underlying hardware – but even so, Otoy says that most browsers should be able to deliver 1080p video at 60fps, even on tablet devices.

“Designers and engineers have an increasing need to be mobile, accessing the tools they need anytime, anywhere and from any device,” said Autodesk CTO Jeff Kowalski. “Simple viewing and mark-up of documents is no longer sufficient – they need to be able to access powerful 3D design applications, be able to do real design work and not worry about sacrificing performance. This is now possible with technology developed by Autodesk, AWS and OTOY.”

In addition, Otoy says that its client is also able to launch native clients that are capable of running remote sessions as either a windowed or a full-screen process, using encryption that’s far stronger than standard HTML-5 encryption. To date, these clients are available on Windows, Linux, iOS and OS X.

For now, Otoy’s Octane Cloud AMIs will be available to use for free on a trial basis until the end of this year – however, clients will still need to pay AWS’ fees. Once the trial period has ended, Otoy’s AMIs will be priced at $99 per month, with no limit on user numbers.