At NavVis, we strive to make spatial data easier to access, understand, and use for everyone. We believe captured data must not only be precise enough for technical work, but also practical enough for broader teams to understand and use throughout projects.
While point clouds remain essential for precise measurement and technical work, not everyone who needs to make a decision about a site works with point clouds every day. Project owners, facility managers, and production planners need a representation they can understand without specialist knowledge. At the same time, reality capture professionals need tools that help them work efficiently without repeatedly switching modes or rebuilding context.
Our Fall ’26 Product Update introduces Gaussian splats and a more unified workflow in IVION, making spatial data easier to understand, explore, and share.
Splats is a new visualization capability in IVION. Available alongside point clouds and panoramas, it provides a more realistic, immersive view of a captured site, one that looks and feels like being there.
The underlying technology, 3D Gaussian Splatting, represents a captured scene through millions of oriented, semi-transparent ellipsoids. Unlike panoramas, which show a site from fixed capture positions, Splats allow teams to move continuously through the space and view it from any angle. Natural color, recognizable surfaces, and a clear sense of depth create a realistic, immersive view of the captured site.
“It is easy to use and feels more immersive than traditional panorama tours, with no need to jump from one capture point to the next, even in large and complex buildings.”
-- Tim Schrievers, CEO & Founder of Metrika360
This makes captured spaces easier to understand for people who do not work with point clouds every day. Clients can recognize a space without first learning how to interpret the visualization. Office-based and distributed teams can review existing conditions remotely with more visual context. Project stakeholders can discuss layout, access, and site conditions while looking at the same recognizable environment.
“Gaussian Splats are especially useful for customer-facing presentations, where visual quality matters.”
-- Aisyah Siregar, Customer Experience Engineer for AEC & Process Industry, Kozo Keikaku Engineering, Inc.
In the Splat view, teams can navigate the site, take measurements, add points of interest (POIs), and share the same perspective with others.
For laser scanning professionals and service providers, Splats offers a clearer way to communicate captured data to clients. For AEC, manufacturing, and enterprise teams, it makes spatial context accessible to more people. Together, Splats, Point clouds, and Panoramas let teams choose the representation that best fits the task and the audience.
* NavVis MLX customers can now sign up for the Splats beta program here.
Making a site easier to understand is only part of the challenge. Teams also need to act on that understanding without losing context as they move from one task to the next.
The Fall ’26 Product Update brings browsing, navigation, Mark & Measure, Crop & Download, Model Management, and POIs into one working environment.
Teams can move between tasks without repeatedly switching modes or waiting for the scene to reload, making it easier to complete a workflow from start to finish. Because the tools now work together, teams can crop an area and measure within it, change the view and inspect a POI, or continue working with a model without losing their place. This reduces interruptions and keeps the relevant spatial context visible throughout the task.
Shaped by customer and user feedback, the updated interface gives IVION a fresh new look while making its capabilities easier to find and use. Clearer navigation and controls across tools make IVION easier to learn, so teams can continue working in the same way as new capabilities are added.
Spatial data creates more value when the right people can understand it and act on it. That requires both the right representation and a workflow that helps teams stay focused.
Gaussian splats extend the value of captured site data by giving stakeholders a realistic, recognizable view of the site without requiring them to interpret a point cloud. The unified workflow helps teams move from viewing a site to working with its data without losing context. Together, these capabilities make spatial data in IVION easier to explore, explain, and use, without compromising the precision required for professional workflows.
To learn more or speak with our team, reach out to us here.