At SIGGRAPH 2025, Dell Technologies approached me with a simple question of what can we show with Gaussian Splatting? Given the infinite possibilities of lifelike 3D, I kept arriving at the same answer. Dynamic 3D, otherwise known as 4D Gaussian Splatting.
4D Gaussian Splatting is what's next. 3D Gaussian Splatting was the bridge to industry adoption of radiance fields. 4D Gaussian Splatting will be the radiance field representation that emotionally resonates with consumers and the public at large. Over the next year, professionals and creators will create content in dynamic 3D. The pipelines are being built now, and I'm aware of several teams doing truly incredible work. Some works might even come sooner than later. I’ve tracked this technology daily since 2022, before Gaussian Splatting existed, and I speak to more companies, engineers, and creators than I probably let on. I feel confident this is the direction.
I've been fortunate to be captured in dynamic 3D multiple times, and to this day I think the current technology is significantly more capable than is publicly known. Radiance field representations are a fundamental imaging medium, akin to photography or video. To live up to that threshold, they need to become as commonplace and as easy to produce as 2D, and meet or exceed its fidelity. But I believe the real threshold is they must also resonate emotionally with the viewer.
To this end, I decided to examine not as a high action and complex scene, but how the same content that we already know, create, and watch can all be 3D. Every moment around us is capable of being reconstructed in lifelike dynamic 3D. The video features four core scenes between an opening and closing monologue, and contains no 2D elements whatsoever. Every single frame is 4D Gaussian Splatting.
The point of this video was never the capture rig or the GPU count. I am definitely not qualified to present a skincare routine and that's the point. My hope is that a developer or creator sees this video and makes a better version. Content doesn't need to stay in 2D.
One year after the question that started this, the video premieres at SIGGRAPH 2026. YouTube can't showcase 4DGS natively yet, so attendees can watch the full video in WebXR, along with a Quest app to experience it in VR. There are also some fun easter eggs laid throughout the video. Please try and find them. They don't appear in 2D.
Thank you to Dell Technologies and NVIDIA for providing the resources to make this video happen. I'm excited for the day, not terribly far away, when the general standard will be to natively create and connect with content in lifelike 3D. I don't think that day is as distant as most people imagine.
