Gaussian Splatting and 3D for Museums

Cultural heritage expert shares his experience

Thomas Flynn, a UK-based digital heritage specialist, explains what it takes for museums and heritage teams to start working with new 3D formats… including Gaussian Splatting. We discuss where splats fit compared to photogrammetry, and why many organisations still treat 3D as a side activity. Thomas breaks down real museum use cases, including handling collections via 3D printing and creating exhibition collateral from 3D data. He also outlines the operational reality, long-term storage, data liability, and the challenge of publishing 3D online without locking collections into third-party platforms. The conversation moves from practical project kickoffs and licensing to interoperability, persistent identifiers, memory twins, and what mass scanning plus generative AI means for future historical record-keeping.

Thomas is also the writer of “The Spatial Heritage Review”. A publication you should absolutely check out if you are into 3D and cultural heritage.