To produce realistic 3D assets in video games or movie special effects, artists will spend thousands of hours manipulating polygons in the computer before the textures are produced. But this process can be simplified by using a LiDAR sensor on a smartphone. Recently, Niantic, the developer of Pokémon GO, has come up with the Scaniverse application that can produce 3D objects by scanning real objects.
Scaniverse was taken over by Niantic in 2021. Now after three years of being under the auspices of Niantic, the application has been updated with the fourth generation. It now supports the Gaussian splatting rendering method for more realistic, high-quality and fast-processed results in addition to the mesh method offered by other applications. Interestingly, this application supports most Android devices also not equipped with LiDAR sensors.
The purpose of this application was developed to build large-scale 3D maps. Then Scaniverse also blurs human faces and vehicle number plates when scanning is done. With Scaniverse, 3D objects also have more natural lighting and reflection effects. With each 3D object that has been processed, it will also have location data so that developers can use this data for the purpose of developing augmented reality content as well as for use in 3D software.