FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

AMAXiMAL Releases TopMod v3: Pocket-Sized, AI-Empowered 3D Modeling That Folds in Your Pocket

TopMod v3.9 adds a Duo layout for foldable phones and runs on iPhone, iPad, the web and as a plug-in for Rhino

[CITY, STATE] — October [XX], 2026 — AMAXiMAL today announced TopMod v3, the latest version of TopMod 3D, a software system for building high-genus shapes and complex geometry for 3D printing and form finding. TopMod v3.9 introduces the Duo layout: on a foldable phone held half-open, the 3D model lives on the top screen and the full set of tools sits on the bottom screen, like a handheld console. TopMod 3D is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, runs in any web browser, and is available as a plug-in for Rhino.

"TopMod has always been about topology you can touch: punch holes, add handles, twist and subdivide, and still end up with a clean surface you can render or 3D print," said John Briscella, computational designer and founder of AMAXiMAL. "With v3, those power CAD tools fit in your pocket, and on a foldable phone the model gets its own screen."

Built on TopMod research
TopMod grows out of research on topological mesh modeling at Texas A&M University by Ergun Akleman and colleagues, where every operation keeps the mesh a clean, connected surface. The classic desktop release, TopMod 2.0 (2008), made these tools freely available to students, artists and researchers, and with two decades of use by architects, designers, mathematicians and artists, TopMod now runs in your browser and on your phone. TopMod v3.0 is developed by John Briscella, who has worked with Akleman on TopMod. He rebuilt TopMod to run in the browser and on iPhone and iPad, kept Akleman's topology kernel intact, and added the tools around it, including the folding-screen layout and embedded AI with Claude.

What's new in TopMod v3
- Duo layout (v3.9+): on a half-folded phone the top screen shows the full 3D viewport (orbit, select, zoom) and the bottom screen holds the menu bar, toolbar, layers, modifiers and tool panels, with a built-in touch pad for the camera. Fold the phone flat and TopMod goes back to one big canvas.
- Embedded AI with Claude: give Claude an equation or a rule and it works through the math with you, building it in TopMod as real, editable topology. Each step is reproduced as a live modifier, so you can change a value and watch the form update in real time.
- How to model: shape the topology first and the geometry follows. Every tool is built from inserting and deleting edges, so the model stays one clean, closed surface no matter how many holes, handles and twists you add.
- Design with math: topology optimization generates structure from loads and supports and carves away material, alongside 3D generators for reaction-diffusion, cellular automata, branching growth, hyphae, slime mold, terrain, origami folds and wave-function-collapse pipes.
- Model the nearly impossible: Bejewel sets a cut gem on every face of a shape, each one placed, faceted and ray-traced in seconds.
- Cut real gems: round brilliant, cushion, emerald and more, ray-traced live with a renderer that mimics how real light refracts, reflects and splits into color inside a cut stone.
- Wind and stress: see how air flows around a form, then how it deforms under load.
- Simulate physics: drop fabric, bounce, explode and melt, with real-world physics running right on the model, like cloth settling over a cymatic wave and a 3D Voronoi sphere.
- Cut it from plywood: slice any form into plywood layers, waffle grids, face panels or laser-cut finger joints. Every part is numbered and nested onto 4 × 8 sheets, ready to export for the CNC; the layers lift off the model one by one, from the lowest to the highest, and land on the sheets.
- Model with your hands: camera hand tracking selects, extrudes, zooms and orbits with simple gestures.
- Plug-in for Rhino: TopMod runs inside Rhino 8 and syncs live with it. Every edit appears in Rhino as a polysurface, Rhino transforms flow back into TopMod, and models can be baked or imported in either direction.
- Open source and always growing: new tools are added all the time. The code is open source on GitHub, so anyone can try the experiments, suggest new ideas and techniques, and redesign the software to work the way they need.

Availability
TopMod 3D ("TopMod — 3D Mesh Modeler") is free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. The Duo layout ships in v3.9 and turns on by itself on a foldable screen, or any time from View > Duo layout. TopMod also runs free in the web browser, and the TopMod plug-in for Rhino [availability / pricing].

- App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/topmod-3d-mesh-modeler/id6779650858
- Try it and see the Duo layout running live: https://amaximal.com/topmodduo/
- TopMod 3D: https://amaximal.com/topmod3d/
- Open source on GitHub: https://github.com/AMAXIMAL/topmod3d
- Read the TopMod paper: https://www.scribd.com/document/76720475/Ergun-Akleman-et-al-Topmod-Interactive-Topological-Mesh-Modeler

About AMAXiMAL
AMAXiMAL is the computational design studio of John Briscella. It builds custom 3D software, iPhone and web apps, generative design tools and fabrication projects, from the first idea to the App Store, the CNC and the finished piece. To have AMAXiMAL develop your next project or app, contact office@amaximal.com or visit https://amaximal.com.

Media Contact
John Briscella
AMAXiMAL
John@amaximal.com
https://amaximal.com

Press kit (release, screenshots, demo videos, app icon and logos):
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11p-yEeHAt0bWao3F38H2C6Ig5NwAzfdb

###

© 2026 AMAXiMAL · John Briscella
