"Democratizing 3D Reality Capture: The Graphics Revolution Unleashed"
A collaborative project called Backup Ukraine, developed by the Danish UNESCO National Commission and Polycam, is enabling anyone with a smartphone to scan and capture high-quality 3D models of heritage sites, democratizing the process of preserving cultural heritage. This is made possible by the rapid progress of 3D capture and graphics technologies, driven by the drop in cost of cameras and sensors, the use of artificial intelligence for constructing 3D assets, and the proliferation of computing power. New rendering techniques like gaussian splatting are gaining attention for their ability to generate highly detailed and textured 3D assets. The shift towards 3D content is aligned with the future of spatial computing, and the hope for a real-time 3D map of the world. Additionally, 3D memory capture is seen as a powerful application, allowing people to preserve and revisit important places and moments.