Surface Explorer
Parametric & implicit surfaces
Free
New in 1.3: Cross Section, 3D slices of 4D surfaces you can rotate and scan, a Precise ray marcher, a Headlight, and backgrounds that wrap around the scene as a sky.
Surface Explorer is a high-performance visualizer for intricate mathematical surfaces — 2D manifolds embedded in three- or four-dimensional space, and 3D slices of four-dimensional hypersurfaces — bringing abstract geometry to life with real-time GPU rendering.
KEY FEATURES
• Cross Section — slice four-dimensional hypersurfaces and watch their 3D sections change shape as you rotate them in 4D or slide the cutting plane along the fourth axis, even along a 4D camera path.
• Ray Marching Engine — real-time rendering of implicit surfaces and signed-distance fields, with procedural displacement, transparency, adjustable shells, and a precise mode for high-degree equations.
• Multi-Mesh Surfaces — build figures from several independent grids, each with its own color, transparency, texture and domain.
• Geodesic Flow — explore intrinsic geometry on curved manifolds (S³, H²×R, SL(2,R) and more), integrating geodesics from initial conditions.
• 4D Spatial Exploration — dedicated controls for hyperspatial rotation (Omega, Phi, Psi), projection, and 3D and 4D camera paths.
• 4D Lighting Models — Directional, Observer, and Slice lighting designed for hyperspace.
• Dynamic GLSL Scripting — write custom shaders for procedural textures and surface logic in the built-in editor.
• Backgrounds — images and procedural effects, fixed on screen or wrapped around the scene as a sphere, cylinder or cube.
• Audio-Visual Synthesis — synchronize geometric parameters with a mathematical sound synthesizer.
• Video Recording — capture your explorations directly in the app and save them to your device.
A library of ready-made presets ships with the app, from classic parametric surfaces to black-hole ergospheres, curved-space tori and slices of the 3-torus, together with a searchable built-in manual.
Built with Qt and Metal for smooth, native performance on iPhone and iPad.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
NEW
• Cross Section: 3D slices of 4D surfaces. Write an equation in x, y, z and p, then rotate the surface in 4D or slide the cutting plane along the fourth axis with P+/P−, and watch the section change shape. The 4D camera path works here too.
• Precise ray marcher: removes the false "welds" that could join separate parts of high-degree equations.
• Shell thickness is now a slider, saved with the surface. Existing shells may look thinner than before: raise the slider to restore their previous look.
• Headlight: an optional light from the viewer, for cavities and the insides of tubes on ray-marched surfaces.
• Backgrounds can now wrap around the scene as a sphere, cylinder or cube, turning with the camera.
• The 4D step buttons show how far you have moved with each of them.
IMPROVEMENTS AND FIXES
• Surfaces and records save their full 4D state: equation, rotations and the position of the cutting plane.
• Constants are no longer reset when a preset is loaded.
• Switching between the 3D and Cross Section sub-tabs starts from a clean scene.
• Equations that do not describe a surface are refused with a message instead of leaving an empty screen.
• NEW clears the whole scene, and moving the view of an empty scene no longer asks you to save.
• A camera path can now be written with a single coordinate.
• Textures remember which library entry they come from, and Sync Focused Texture updates both surface and background textures without losing your colours and constants.
• Applying a relief texture to a transparent surface no longer risks freezing the app.
The developer, GAETANO MOSCHETTI, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- GAETANO MOSCHETTI
- Size
- 64.5 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Gaetano Moschetti
