3D Gaussian Splatting and Mesh-Based Digital Twins: An Exploratory Study for Virtual Reality Tourism

2026-08-03

AI Summary

This study addresses the high cost of high-fidelity digital twins in virtual reality (VR) tourism and the lack of systematic evaluation of emerging rendering techniques on user experience. It introduces 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) into VR-based digital twins for the first time and conducts a controlled experiment to systematically compare it with traditional 3D mesh approaches across dimensions including user experience, presence, cybersickness, and emotional responses. Results indicate that both methods effectively elicit positive emotions and enhance presence, yet 3DGS demonstrates superior realism while 3D meshes achieve higher ratings in usability and overall user experience. The findings reveal a trade-off between perceived realism and practical quality, offering empirical guidance for designing cost-effective, highly immersive VR tourism systems.

Abstract

Digital Twins (DTs) are increasingly used for immersive experiences in virtual tourism. Virtual Reality (VR) enables remote visits to replicated locations for promotional purposes or access to fragile and rural cultural heritage sites. However, developing high-fidelity DTs of tourist destinations is costly, due to the manual creation of 3D environments. Novel 3D rendering techniques, such as 3D Gaussian splatting (3DGS), pose a promising approach to creating immersive experiences. This study investigates the user experience (UX) of a 3D-mesh-based scene and a 3DGS-based scene within a VR tourism application. In a laboratory study, 20 participants engaged with both versions and rated UX, cybersickness, presence and affect through standardized questionnaires. A custom questionnaire was created to measure the perception of the DTs. The collected data suggests that both versions were enjoyed and induced positive affect, with the Mesh version receiving good UX ratings. While the 3DGS version scored higher in terms of experienced realism, it showed clear weaknesses in pragmatic quality. Further, the results suggest that the feeling of presence could be enhanced and cybersickness reduced in both versions. Overall, the study contributes to the understanding of UX in VR tourism applications by implementing mesh-based and 3DGS-based DTs and raising important questions about the perception of realism.

Problem

• Digital Twins
• Virtual Reality Tourism
• 3D Gaussian Splatting
• User Experience
• Presence

Innovation

• 3D Gaussian Splatting
• Digital Twins
• Virtual Reality Tourism
• User Experience
• Mesh-Based Rendering