PhysX
PhysX is a real-time physics simulation engine developed by NVIDIA, primarily used for creating realistic physical interactions in video games, virtual reality, and other interactive 3D applications. It handles calculations for rigid body dynamics, soft body dynamics, cloth simulation, fluid dynamics, and particle systems, enabling developers to implement complex physics without building engines from scratch. Originally developed by Ageia and acquired by NVIDIA in 2008, it is widely integrated into game engines like Unreal Engine and Unity.
Developers should learn PhysX when working on games or simulations that require advanced physics effects, such as destructible environments, realistic character movements, or dynamic object interactions, as it provides optimized performance on NVIDIA GPUs. It is particularly useful in AAA game development, VR/AR projects, and training simulations where physics accuracy and real-time responsiveness are critical, offering hardware acceleration for complex calculations.