With the rapid proliferation of Gaussian Splatting tools and platforms, a new viewer, Portality, emerges. Portality is a cutting-edge WebGL2 implementation viewer for Gaussian Splatting. What sets the viewer apart is its incorporation of a GPU-based bitonic sort algorithm, enhancing speed and fluidity in animations.
Portality comes from a company named Panverse Robotics, which has just come out of stealth mode. There are so many cool and modular settings that you can apply to this viewer!
Emphasizing modularity, Portality allows users to load Gaussian Splat files directly through URLs, as demonstrated with a sample from Hugging Face. The flexibility to adjust URL parameters (https://viewer.portality.ai/index.html?url=) for specific rendering needs is a highlight, offering a degree of customization that is well-received in the user community.
Understanding different user needs, the Portality Splat Viewer offers two GPU-based sorting methods. The default is a global bitonic sort, which minimizes artifacts but may be slightly slower. Alternatively, users can opt for a tiled bitonic sort using kd-trees, which can increase the frames per second but may introduce artifacts at tiling boundaries. Through the Portality settings, it is modifiable to focus on either quality or rendering speed. Because they're also using a gpu-based bitonic sort algorithm, it helps them render smoothly and efficiently. Prioritizing speed appears to be roughly twice as fast.
Another notable feature of the Portality Splat Viewer is its full compatibility with WebGL2. This ensures that the renderer can be used across a wide array of browsers, including those on mobile devices, significantly expanding its accessibility and user base. Additionally, the upcoming launch of their product website, portality.ai, promises to introduce more features and tools for personal data integration.
Users can access the Portality Splat Viewer in two ways. It can be hosted locally using a web server pointing to a specific folder, or accessed online at viewer.portality.ai. The upcoming product website at portality.ai promises to offer even more features, including tools to work with these splats using personal data.
You are also able to set the default camera parameters, such as the camera position, the location it's focused on, and the up vector. These settings can be specified through parameters in the URL.
Portality Splat Viewer is available under an LGPL License. This permissive licensing makes it a valuable tool for both commercial and private use, allowing for modification, distribution, and even patent use. While they haven't been announced yet, Panverse co-founder Eric Hallahan stated on Twitter that a lot of exciting features will be coming to Portality.
The Portality Splat Viewer from Panverse Robotics presents a solid, user-friendly option in the 3D rendering market. Its modular design and flexible licensing make it a noteworthy addition, particularly for users seeking a customizable and accessible rendering tool.
