This is a first-of-its-kind Gaussian Splatting capture made from thermal camera footage. It originates from lo-fi data recorded on an off-brand Chinese mobile phone—chosen because the last real hardware leap in mobile phones was depth sensing on iPhones, which remains largely underused.

Phone hardware itself feels mostly complete; recent innovation has shifted to software, especially AI. Exploring beyond mainstream devices led us to rugged industrial phones with niche sensors, including thermal imaging. A decade ago, thermal cameras were military-grade and restricted; now they arrive next-day and integrate directly with mobile devices.

As we move toward spatial reality devices—glasses, wearables, even implants—the challenge will be how well they understand physical space. Thermal vision adds another layer of reality.