Varjo Unveils ‘Teleport’ Service for Effortless VR Integration of Real-World Locations

Varjo, the renowned creator of high-end XR headsets, just unveiled an innovative 3D scanning service tailored for enterprise use, lending a hand in crafting photorealistic environments swiftly. This exciting tool lets users explore these ultra-realistic landscapes in VR or even on traditional screens.

Meet Teleport, Varjo’s latest offering—a paid app aimed at capturing and replicating real-world locales. What’s impressive is its speed; Varjo claims it takes only about 5–10 minutes, putting it significantly ahead of the usual photogrammetry techniques in terms of time efficiency.

The app is compatible with a range of devices, notably iPhones and iPads running iOS 17 or later. This includes a broad spectrum of Apple hardware, starting from the iPhone XR and the 8th generation iPad upwards.

Once users create these “digital twins,” they can easily access them on mobile phones and PCs. For those using Varjo’s XR headsets or other leading PC VR headsets, there’s an option to explore these immersive spaces, too.

Teleport leverages cutting-edge advancements in Gaussian Splatting and NVIDIA’s impressive GPU-trained generative models. The heavy lifting of processing these 3D models happens in the cloud, with rendering occurring on the user’s device. This setup means you need an Internet connection only for downloading the model initially, while exploration after that is a breeze.

The service is priced at $30 a month, but Varjo entices newcomers with a generous seven-day free trial. By signing up, users can also access a variety of captures to view for free, ranging from standard and high-definition web previews to top-quality visuals available through its desktop client.

Teleport’s launch is coupled with an expansion of Varjo’s Series D funding round. They’ve attracted fresh investments from groups like Beyond Capital, Nishikawa Communications, and NVIDIA. Though Varjo remains tight-lipped about the exact numbers, they did share with Road to VR that their total funding now hits approximately €180 million ($188 million USD).

The funding injection is set to propel Varjo’s acceleration in deploying XR hardware and software solutions, particularly in industrial arenas. According to CEO Timo Toikkanen, the company plans to harness AI and machine learning further, blending real and virtual worlds to boost productivity and efficiency for their industrial clients.

Elsewhere in the industry, Meta is tinkering with a similar offering aimed at consumers. Announced in September, their project, Horizon Hyperscape, is currently a demo showcasing Meta’s aspirations for photorealism. The goal? To eventually let creators “build worlds within Horizon using a phone to scan a room” for recreation—a promising feature though there’s no timeline on its release just yet.