WALKSPACE

What the 3D tour words mean

Plain definitions of the words you meet when you shop for a tour of your venue.

Gaussian splat

A way of rebuilding a real room from photos as millions of small, soft, coloured points. Each point keeps its own colour and light, so glass, fabric and candlelight look as they did on the day. Walkspace tours are built this way.

digital twin

A detailed digital copy of a building, tied to measurements and live data so it can be run and maintained: plans, sensors, repairs. Engineers and facilities teams use them. A walkthrough made to sell a room is not one.

360 tour

A set of 360 degree photos taken from fixed spots and linked, so you click from one spot to the next. You can look all around each spot but cannot move freely between them.

virtual tour

Any way of looking round a place online before you visit. The phrase covers everything from a photo gallery to a 360 tour to a walkthrough you can move through.

photogrammetry

Measuring and rebuilding objects or rooms from many overlapping photos. The usual result is a mesh: a surface of small triangles with the photos stretched over it. It handles solid shapes well and struggles with glass, shine and fine detail.

3D scan

A digital capture of the shape of a real object or space. It can come from a laser, a depth camera or ordinary photos, and the phrase covers all three.

LiDAR scan

A scan made with a laser that times how long light takes to bounce back, giving a cloud of measured points. Surveyors and architects use it when exact dimensions matter.

dollhouse view

A view of a whole building from outside and above, as if the roof were lifted off, so you can see how the rooms connect. Many tour platforms offer one to help you find your bearings.

spatial tour

A tour you move through in three dimensions, rather than jumping between fixed photo spots. Some companies use the phrase as a name for their own product.