Have you ever wanted to create an extended reality environment without investing in a metaverse service platform and developer kit? Now you can. Unveiled by the world’s leading XR brand at AWE 2024, Varjo Teleport promises to simplify XR content creation.
At the event, Varjo demonstrated exactly what the application can do, such as creating an intelligent digital twin of a space and environment using only a smartphone camera. The solution allows you to scan an area, upload it instantly to a cloud storage space, and explore it in an extended reality.
Varjo also provides access to handy machine learning tools that help you process and edit captured content before sharing it with colleagues.
Here’s everything you need to know about Baryo Teleport.
What is Baryo Teleport?
Varjo Teleport is a revolutionary service that changes the way users create and interact with augmented reality environments. It leverages spatial computing technologies, machine learning, and cloud capabilities to enable any smartphone user (currently iOS) to create a digital twin of a space.
The software allows users to quickly capture spatial images with their smartphones and upload that data to the cloud to create immersive environments.
In particular, this solution should not be confused with the previous Varjo Teleport VR solution, which focused solely on immersive collaborative experiences.
Varjo Teleport, now an Apple-only smartphone application, aims to help businesses and users across all industries create digital twins of large-scale environments without the need for additional, expensive equipment. According to the Finnish XR company, creating mixed and virtual reality experiences has been a time-consuming and cumbersome process up to now (and I agree).
Before Teleport, developers needed significantly more advanced technologies and toolsets to design immersive environments that people could actually interact with. Teleport makes it easy for everyone to create digital twins. The company believes this will lead to much wider adoption of digital twins, metaverse technology, and immersive spaces.
How Varjo Teleport Works
Varjo Teleport is a very simple solution overall. It provides the technology needed to scan content with a smartphone and create immersive spaces in the cloud. On the surface, it may seem simple, but Varjo’s technology offers much more than that.
Rather than simply “uploading” content to the cloud, the Teleport system actively reconstructs the scene with accurate lighting, textures, shading, and textures, using a technique called “Gaussian splatting” along with machine learning.
Gaussian splatting is very popular in the XR world, as evidenced by the launch of the Gracia platform this year.
Basically, Gaussian splatting promises to make it easier to capture and render rooms and spaces in real time, building on existing 3D capturing methods such as NeRF and photogrammetry.
Varjo Teleport allows users to capture and upload real-world location information using an intuitive iOS application that leverages this technology. I’m not sure if the company plans to bring Android support in the future, but I think it would be a good move.
After your content is scanned and securely uploaded to the cloud, a machine learning-driven “reconstruction” process takes place. The Varjo Cloud system transforms your capture into a full-scale digital twin that you can share with your team.
Users can explore the capture using a web browser (great if they don’t already have a headset), or they can enter the space at 1:1 scale with a VR headset, such as the Varjo XR-4 series headset. The capture’s spatial library supports full spatial movement, so you can move around the scene. You can also share these experiences securely with friends via a private link.
Ease of use and overall experience
Based on the demo provided by AWE, Varjo Teleport is a pretty impressive solution. It is certainly easier to create a digital twin than using advanced technologies and coding. However, it is worth noting that it still takes time to “build” the environment.
I spent about 10 minutes walking around the space, capturing as much visual data as possible and allowing the app to see the space as a whole. Also, while the Gaussian splatting technique is generally very accurate, I did notice some blurriness in Varjo’s reproduction.
It’s not a huge deal, but if you don’t scan everything perfectly, parts of the environment will end up looking more like a drawing than a real space. Still, I’ve never seen a digital twin solution that didn’t have at least some image reconstruction issues.
Benefits of Varjo Teleport
I can definitely see a lot of potential in solutions like Varjo Teleport. Varjo gives anyone the opportunity to create high-resolution 3D models of any environment, with smartphone applications and cloud tools. No experience or expensive technology required.
Additionally, browser support allows anyone to access the 3D models your team creates, even if they don’t have an XR headset. The use cases for this are certainly numerous. Varjo is opening the door to many new “metaverse-style” experiences by dramatically reducing the time and cost of digitizing locations.
This technology can be used to replicate office spaces and other collaborative environments for teams, and create comfortable spaces for meetings. Businesses can use it to share insights about their offices with stakeholders or to allow customers to tour a virtual store. Real estate can also use it to let people tour homes they are interested in buying.
Varjo announced the solution launch, noting that the Finnish National Opera and Ballet plans to use the tool to optimize their stages and spaces.
How to use Varjo Teleport: Simple tips
Currently, Varjo is offering Teleport to users in early access mode. They haven’t revealed any details on the price of the full version or exactly when it will be released. However, they do say that you’ll need at least an iPhone 12 Pro to get started.
The good news is that Varjo Teleport is very easy to use, but there are some caveats to consider. For example, it requires a lot of storage space to capture content, and you can’t capture scenes in the dark or images of specific objects.
Additionally, this app can drain your iPhone’s battery quite a bit, so if you have a long enough cable, you may want to keep your device plugged in at all times.
Varjo’s FAQ page shares some useful tips for beginners, especially when it comes to capturing content. For example:
- Capture as much as possible: Move slowly around your surroundings with your smartphone and capture as many angles as possible. Walk long loops, changing angles slightly each time to get the overall perspective.
- Prioritize details: After you have taken a comprehensive shot, consider zooming in on the most important details in the space. Again, remember to move slowly to reduce blur and avoid clutter.
- Adjust your lighting appropriately: Make sure you have enough natural light, as Varjo Teleport can’t capture scenes in the dark. Remember that moving between very dark and very bright areas can cause problems with your capture.
Varjo Teleport Review: Verdict
Varjo has recently emerged as a major player in the XR space, with its virtual and mixed reality software and hardware being adopted by more than a quarter of Fortune 100 companies in everything from automotive manufacturing to pilot training.
With Varjo Teleport, the company aims to expand its service offering to a wider range of users and establish itself as a leader in spatial data, especially as Teleport launches at a time when other vendors are experimenting with their own spatial recording services.
For example, Apple offers a spatial recording solution for the Apple Vision Pro. But Teleport is likely to be a more accessible (and affordable) option for many users experimenting with XR content creation. It doesn’t even require an XR headset. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can sign up for the early access program now.