360 Tour vs Gaussian Splat Tour

A 360 tour is often faster and lighter; a splat tour can feel more walkable when capture and publishing are strong.

Short answer

Choose based on visitor needs, budget, capture conditions, and the sales value of spatial movement.

A 360 tour is often faster and lighter; a splat tour can feel more walkable when capture and publishing are strong. A useful test is simple: can someone open the tour, understand the place, and know what to do next without a separate explanation?

Real Horizons supports the full Spatial Studio workflow: generate high-quality Gaussian splats from smartphone video, 360 cameras, 360 drones, standard drone footage, DSLR/photo sets, or mixed media, then turn the result into a guided browser tour with waypoints, labels, hotspots, embeds, CTAs, and analytics.

How to judge the workflow

Practical checklist

• Use 360 tours for simple room viewing and fast delivery.
• Use splat tours when layout and depth change the decision.
• Do not force splats on low-value jobs.
• Check mobile performance for both formats.
• Package photos and tour links together.

Why Real Horizons is different

Real Horizons brings cloud Gaussian splat generation and guided tour delivery into one workflow. Spatial Studio supports captures from smartphones, 360 cameras, 360 drones, standard drones, DSLR/photo sets, and mixed media, then helps teams review the scene, add context, publish the tour, and measure visitor actions.

Common mistakes

• Judging the result only inside a raw viewer.
• Forgetting the first view, so visitors open into a confusing angle.
• Adding too many labels instead of a clear route.
• Sending a heavy scene without testing a normal phone.
• Treating the same capture method as right for every project.

Published-tour checks that matter

A 360-camera cafe capture shows why coverage, exposure, and a stable path matter before generation.

After generation, tour authoring turns the spatial asset into a usable experience. The first view should explain the space, the bottom or side navigation should make the route clear, and any labels should help visitors make a decision instead of decorating the scene. The finished tour should feel like a useful browser page, not a file preview.

Review the published link the same way a visitor would. Open it on desktop, then on a phone. Check whether the tour title, waypoints, hotspots, CTA, and surrounding context still make sense without a sales person explaining it. If the main action is hidden or the first view feels random, revise the tour before embedding it on a landing page.

A published cafe tour gives visitors a clear first view before they move through the space.

Before launch, do one pass through the published tour: preview the opening view, copy the share link, test the embed, confirm the CTA, and decide which events you will track. Those checks catch the issues visitors notice first: a weak start, a hidden next step, or a link that works on desktop but not on mobile.

A finished tour should connect the visual result to a measurable action: a booking click, inquiry, embedded listing view, or stakeholder share. For the broader workflow, read Splat Virtual Tour Software and Gaussian Splatting for Real Estate.

A clear recommendation should name the tradeoff: speed and simplicity for 360 tours, spatial movement and depth for splat tours.

Related reading

• Splat Virtual Tour Software
• Gaussian Splatting Virtual Tours
• View live tours