3D simulations with Gaussian splatting: learning in the place itself

What is Gaussian splatting?

Gaussian splatting is a way to capture a real scene as a 3D model, from photos or video, with a very photorealistic result. Instead of building with triangles, the scene consists of many small, soft blobs of colour. The result feels like the place itself, with light, materials and clutter. That differs from a modelled, clean 3D world.

CoVince has a viewer that streams large scenes with a level of detail, an editor with annotations, and a pipeline that turns video into a scene.

Scan a room with your phone

With RoomScan you scan a real room with your phone and send the scan on to a splat scene. That makes it possible to capture your own workplace, production hall or room without specialised equipment. The scene can be used in the learning journey as a 3D room scan slide or as a GSplat quiz.

Walking and answering questions

In the GSplat quiz the learner walks through a captured place and answers questions at marked points. Think of looking for risks in a workshop, checking a set-up or finding the error in a situation. There is also a simulation slide for processes.

Why context helps

Research on context-dependent memory shows that what you learn comes back more easily in an environment that resembles the one in which you learned it. A 3D scene of the real place brings that context along. For safety, inspection and procedures that is valuable: you practise in the place where it will really happen, without risk.

It also helps with the transfer to work. Read more in transfer to the shop floor.

Honest about the limit

There is not yet a ready-made library of training scenes. You, as the customer, capture or upload each scene yourself. For the scan itself there is a guide and the technology is ready. That means you get the most from your own location: a scene of your own workplace is more valuable than a generic one.

• Choose a place where training is worth the most: risky, expensive or hard to reach.
• Capture it once, properly; reuse is free.
• Decide in advance which five things the learner should notice.

Designing a good 3D assignment

A beautiful scene is not yet a lesson. What the learner has to do determines whether they learn. Three design rules help. First: give a task, not a tour. "Find the four risks in this workshop" works better than "look around". Second: let the learner choose or point something out and give feedback on the spot, so the answer is tied to an image. Third: keep it short. A scene with ten marked points is enough for a learning moment of a few minutes.

Combine the scene with other slides: a short explanation beforehand, the quiz in the scene, and a closing question about what the learner would change in their own workplace.

Getting started in practice

You start by scanning one place. Take a space where training pays off a lot: a place with risks, a costly set-up or something where it is hard to get people to go. Capture it with the phone (RoomScan) or with a video you have converted. Check the scene in the viewer, place the annotations and build a quiz around it.

Plan a test round with two or three colleagues from the shop floor, not only with the designer. They see straight away what is wrong about the place. After that you can reuse the scene for new employees, for repetition and for maintenance moments. The scene itself is a one-off investment.

Quality of a scan

A good scene starts with a good recording. A few practical rules: make sure the light is even and avoid hard shadows or bright backlight. Move calmly and cover the space from several angles, so no gaps appear. Remove moving people and things you do not want to see from the space. Then check the scene in the viewer and re-record a part if needed.

Think of privacy and safety too: a scan captures everything in the space, including documents, screens and faces. Tidy up before you scan and decide who may see the scene. A scene of a workplace is valuable, but it should not show more than is needed for the lesson.

And in VR?

Besides the browser there is VR, built in Unity and separate from the web platform. Scenarios with a 3D scene, a 360 room or interactive video are played in the browser or with a VR headset; the score and the recording land on the learning journey’s timeline.

For broad use the browser is the first step, VR the next for situations where presence makes the difference. See also scenario games for decisions.