- 1 · 2490 BC in 3D
- 2 · 2540 BC
- 3 · Build it
- 4 · Today
- 5 · The Sphinx
Heritage sites sell their story, not just their stones. We rebuilt the Giza plateau as a Gaussian splat from one stock drone clip, found each pyramid in the model, and put it on a timeline: press a year and Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure rise to the height they had reached, in the order they were built. AI pictures the same view in that year from the very same camera, so you can drag between the past and the 3D model, or lift the picture itself into 3D with depth fitted to the real plateau. Hologram figures walk the plateau's real routes, hauling blocks from the quarry and up the ramp, then processing along the causeways once each pyramid is finished. The Sphinx and Elephant Rock at AlUla get their own before and after.
What we measured
| Measure | Check | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frames placed by the camera solve | n/a | 195 of 195 | 0.56 px average error |
| Held-out frames, rebuilt vs real | n/a | 35.4 dB PSNR | SSIM 0.930, LPIPS 0.163 |
| Menkaure's height in the model | 61.0 m (real) | 58.8 m | Scale set by Khafre; Khufu not measured |
| Depth of the real frame vs solved points, held out | n/a | 3.0% median error | 90th percentile 10.6% |
| Map fit on the three pyramids | n/a | 10 to 21 m | Model 3.6% larger than the map |
| Browser download | n/a | 2.9 MB preview, 13.8 MB full | Pictures in 3D 2.4 MB each |
| AI pictures | n/a | 10 for $0.68 | Three past eras and the Sphinx |
What happens next
- A site's own drone flight around all four sides, so every face is sharp.
- Figures from motion capture instead of stick figures, and a guided audio tour.
Get the book today: learn Gaussian splatting and apply it to real projects.
People keep asking how we build what you see here. The book walks students, educators and practitioners from a drone clip to a measured 3D in the browser, with hands-on labs and the code.
Launch price until 3 December.
Teaching a course (Level 5, Level 6 and up)? Email junaid.malik@simamdigital.com about a class discount.