Topics

The technologies turning the physical world into data – explained by the people who build and use them.

• Reality Capture9 videosReality capture is the process of digitising physical spaces and objects – with laser scanners, SLAM devices, cameras and drones – into point clouds, meshes and images that can be measured, modelled and shared.
• Gaussian Splatting8 videos3D Gaussian Splatting represents a scene as millions of soft, coloured points instead of triangles. It renders photoreal captures in real time, including in the browser, but produces weaker geometry than meshes or point clouds.
• SLAM7 videosSLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping) scanners build a 3D map while tracking their own position, so a site can be captured by walking through it. They trade some accuracy for speed compared with tripod-based laser scanning.
• BIM6 videosBIM (building information modelling) turns buildings into structured, data-rich models. Scan-to-BIM converts reality capture data into those models.
• Digital Twins5 videosA digital twin is a digital representation of a physical asset connected to the data and decisions that matter for it. A point cloud or 3D mesh can be part of a twin, but on its own it is closer to a 3D snapshot.
• Drones5 videosDrones carry cameras and LiDAR payloads to capture terrain, stockpiles, structures and construction sites from the air.
• LiDAR4 videosLiDAR measures distance with laser pulses. It is the core sensor behind terrestrial scanners, SLAM devices, mobile mapping systems and drone mapping payloads.
• Surveying4 videosSurveying establishes accurate positions, control and measurements for land, buildings and infrastructure – the reference that reality capture data is checked against.
• XR4 videosXR covers virtual, augmented and mixed reality – headsets, glasses and 360/3D video used to view, navigate and train in captured spaces.
• Photogrammetry3 videosPhotogrammetry reconstructs 3D geometry and texture from overlapping photographs, from handheld cameras to drones.
• 3D Visualization3 videos3D visualization turns models and captures into interactive experiences, renders and web viewers for clients, buyers and teams.
• Spatial AI2 videosSpatial AI applies machine learning to 3D and location data – from automated point-cloud processing and object detection to agents that reason about physical spaces.
• Robotics2 videosRobots and autonomous systems increasingly carry scanners themselves – quadrupeds, drones and vehicles that capture data in places that are dangerous or repetitive for people.