Demonstrations show the feature running natively on an iPad.
holy crap! apple just beat google to the punch -- 3d gaussian splatting is coming to apple maps.
these 3d scenes are made from oblique aerial imagery. but unlike blobby photogrammetry -- no more broccoli trees, no more melted powerlines -- ground level detail that actually holds up.
here's hoping google maps/earth follows suite soon -- they have a significantly larger corpus of sensor data to work with. time to splat the world!
Many users praised Apple's 3D Gaussian Splatting addition to Maps for finally delivering realistic city renders without broccoli trees, while others dismissed the feature as a pointless gimmick that wastes device space.
Apple just released 3D gaussian splatting on Apple Maps 🤯
This is gonna hit the Urbanist community the way crack cocaine hit 1980s New York.
Apple just announced gaussian splatting is coming to Apple Maps at WWDC.
want to go deeper down the 3d capture rabbit hole? i have a whole playlist of videos you can binge: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6qSg2I-7_koa7wdoZ5fHYMv7JYUcJ6da&si=F_MocrSFgk3aZng8
includes a fresh interview with the co-creator of google earth + the president of khronos on exactly this tech
holy crap! apple just beat google to the punch -- 3d gaussian splatting is coming to apple maps.
these 3d scenes are made from oblique aerial imagery. but unlike blobby photogrammetry -- no more broccoli trees, no more melted powerlines -- ground level detail that actually holds up.
here's hoping google maps/earth follows suite soon -- they have a significantly larger corpus of sensor data to work with. time to splat the world!
Article: https://radiancefields.com/apple-maps-flyover-is-getting-a-gaussian-splatting-upgrade
@RadianceFields Leave it to apple to never mention the underlying details. "Vision intelligence models" sounds more tractable to the average person that gaussian splat. Shame really
@PooyaDesigner i actually just made a video on this https://youtu.be/F-S-x0b9TrE
@verymidengineer It is annoying, but they have confirmed that they use gaussian splatting for both Personas and Spatial Photos, so hopefully we'll get a formal confirmation soon! https://radiancefields.com/apple-confirms-personas-use-gaussian-splatting
@YIMBYLAND Apple Maps is indisputably better than Google Maps and has been for some time
Apple Beat Google to It! Hyper-Realistic Maps at WWDC 2026 — Gaussian Splats & the ongoing 3D maps land grab to own the substrate that connects the physical and digital world. Hopping on with @RadianceFields to discuss.
https://x.com/i/spaces/1aKbddeQlPjJX
@RadianceFields @rafamolone
@bilawalsidhu Craig took it personally this time and actually cooked.
@YIMBYLAND @rhett_carlson If Apple Maps can add historical satellite imagery, then it really is over for me.
@RadianceFields You think the data will be locked to maps platform or exportable to 3D packages?
@RadianceFields @grok how do they get the splats for the maps?
@YIMBYLAND Your equivalency is so disgusting.
@RadianceFields 😲
@bilawalsidhu how do i use this
Come yap about it in our live space with a bunch of 3d gaussian splatting and 3d mapping nerds
https://x.com/i/spaces/1aKbddeQlPjJX
@RadianceFields Why? WTF is this for? To eat up space on my device? Make Apple Earth. Leave this crap off my phone.
@YIMBYLAND Oh nooo I’m about to lose a lot of time to that I fear
Demonstrations show the feature running natively on an iPad.
holy crap! apple just beat google to the punch -- 3d gaussian splatting is coming to apple maps.
these 3d scenes are made from oblique aerial imagery. but unlike blobby photogrammetry -- no more broccoli trees, no more melted powerlines -- ground level detail that actually holds up.
here's hoping google maps/earth follows suite soon -- they have a significantly larger corpus of sensor data to work with. time to splat the world!
