360-degree cameras have a new superpower

GadgetsCloseGadgetsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. NewsCloseNewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Insta360 cameras and Antigravity drones can use Gaussian splats to digitize little chunks of the world. Insta360 cameras and Antigravity drones can use Gaussian splats to digitize little chunks of the world. Sean HollisterCloseSean HollisterSenior EditorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. ShareGiftImage by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeSean HollisterCloseSean HollisterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Imagine Google Street View, except you can walk around like it’s a video game. Now imagine you don’t need to wait for Google to come film because it’s completely DIY. Insta360, the leading maker of 360-degree cameras, is now partnered with a 12-person UK startup called Splatica to help creators do just that. Last January, we wrote about Gaussian splatting, the tech that promises to someday let anyone digitally recreate chunks of the real world in photorealistic 3D. But Splatica is making it surprisingly easy to harness splats today — with nothing more than an off-the-shelf consumer 360-degree camera and a subscription service that handles everything else. I tried it with both an Insta360 X5 camera and an Antigravity A1, and you can check out my results below. While they’