Splatting the city
Posted on August 8th, 2026 – Comments Off on Splatting the cityExactly 3 years ago a research paper was submitted to a scholarly research site named arXiv describing a practical new method to produce 3D graphics called 3D Gaussian Splatting. This method differs from traditional 3D graphics in that instead of creating a scene using polygons, splats are created in 3D space as clouds of points.
This may seem like a mere technical nuance but one of the cool results of the way splats work is that they can be made using photos or, increasingly, high-def video. Effectively, a space or object can now be captured and explored in literally photo-realistic 3D. Apparently this even works when motion/time are introduced. Moreover, I’m told that this can be achieved with basic equipment.
The equipment used to capture Graffiti Alley below is a little more advanced and the resulting splat is nearly 200 MB, the equivalent of about 27 hi-res image files, but the results are spectacular.
Imagine being able to join someone on a ride-along in a way that allows you to pause, rewind, replay, and explore their environment immersively, not just from an “inside a bubble” perspective like you currently see in Google Street View. Vacation photos can be used to recreate and explore the resort’s beach. Spaces and objects can be shared virtually without the need for any 3D modelling or expensive hardware. Porn is sure to improve. The possibilities are immense.
I may soon need a new post category.
... with pictures
... with sounds
... with videos
... with opinions
... that's shorter
... that's longer
