Niantic’s Scaniverse is now obtainable as an app for Quest 3 and Quest 3S on the Horizon Retailer, not simply WebXR anymore.
The Scaniverse cell app for iOS/iPadOS and Android permits you to scan actual world 3D scenes totally free, leveraging on-device processing. In December Niantic launched an Into The Scaniverse WebXR web site to allow you to view them, and people created by others all over the world, in VR by way of the Horizon OS internet browser on Quest 3 and Quest 3S.
Now, Into The Scaniverse can be obtainable as an app on the Horizon Retailer, supporting Quest 3 and Quest 3S.
Niantic claims Scaniverse has the world’s largest assortment of Gaussian splats, with over 50,000 scenes from 120 international locations. The VR interface permits you to browse them on a 3D globe interface marking their seize location.
Scaniverse has been round for 3 years now, and initially used conventional 3D scanning strategies, leveraging and requiring the LiDAR depth sensor of iPhone Professional and iPad Professional fashions. Two years in the past it was upgraded to work with out LiDAR, leveraging developments in laptop imaginative and prescient depth estimation. And final 12 months Scaniverse received its most vital improve but: switching from a conventional 3D stack to Gaussian splatting.
Gaussian splats supply larger constancy scans, with correct lighting and reflections. And whereas earlier Scaniverse scans solely included one particular object, splats embody a illustration of the background – and this makes them perfect for viewing in VR.
Attempting out Into The Scaniverse, I discovered that the standard of the topics, the central objects being scanned, may be very spectacular for on-device scans, whereas the background is considerably decrease element than what you’d discover in Varjo Teleport and Meta’s Horizon Hyperscape Demo. However Varjo Teleport is $30/month, and Horizon Hyperscape is barely a demo of six scenes, whereas Scaniverse is totally free. And whereas Varjo Teleport scans take between half-hour and 24 hours, Scaniverse completes in a matter of single-digit minutes, not less than on a excessive finish telephone.
You’ll be able to obtain the Scaniverse scanning app on the App Retailer for Apple cell gadgets or the Google Play Retailer for Android cell gadgets, and you may view Scaniverse splats in your Quest 3 or Quest 3S at the WebXR web site or now with the Horizon Retailer app.
