[Feature Request] WebGPU rendering backend

[daker]

What feature or change would you like to see made?

Add native WebGPU support to Cornerstone, allowing users to seamlessly choose between WebGL and WebGPU as rendering backends.

csRenderInit({
    rendering: {
      backend: 'WebGL' | 'WebGPU',
    },
});

Kitware/vtk-js#3473

Why should we prioritize this feature?

WebGPU is the path to better scalability, better GPU resource management, and more future-proof rendering performance for the kinds of large datasets.

Browser support :

• Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers:

  • WebGPU is available on Windows (with Direct3D 12), macOS, and ChromeOS starting with Chrome and Edge version 113.
  • Support for Android was added in Chrome version 121 for devices running at least Android 12, and with Qualcomm/ARM GPUs.
  • Support for Linux and expanded support for existing platforms is in progress.

• Firefox:

  • WebGPU is available on Windows as of Firefox 141.
  • WebGPU is available in macOS Tahoe 26 on ARM64 machines, as of Firefox 145.
  • Support for Linux, Android, and Intel-based Macs is in progress.

• Safari:

  • WebGPU is available in macOS Tahoe 26, iOS 26, iPadOS 26, and visionOS 26.

3D Rendering of 12x10 std(150 microns) dataset using WebGPU, this same volume is unusable with WebGL

3d-webgpu.mp4

[linear]

CS-144