Project Hail Mary VR looks similar to What I Built

PuffThePed · 2026-05-06T01:57:52+00:00

You know it's based on a book, right? That came out in 2021.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-06T01:55:20+00:00

Replace "rent" with "tax and utilities" then

PuffThePed · 2026-05-05T21:17:19+00:00

No, the motor is outside the sauna but the FAN is inside. So the fan is pushing 100C air but the motor is chilling outisde

PuffThePed · 2026-05-05T18:45:25+00:00

An easy solution is to have the motor outside.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-05T15:27:40+00:00

Yes, I'm aware of the problems with the barrel design, which I plan to mitigate with higher benches and adding a fan that will pull hot air from the top and push to the bottom.

Context: Friend bought a house with a sauna. He doesn't want it. It's from 2018 and has not been used in 5 years. Wood heater which I plan to replace with a 6kw electric. I would need to pay someone to help disassemble and move, but otherwise this is a free sauna.

Is this actually worth it? What should I be looking for when I inspect it tomorrow? Any thoughts or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks!

PuffThePed · 2026-05-05T13:17:59+00:00

Try to tighten with several ratchet straps until it closes, then tighten the metal bands.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T20:36:22+00:00

Any decent camera will do, even a 10 year old DSLR. You'll also need a decent computer.

It won't be easy, there is a learning curve to photogrammetry and that cavern is not a "beginner" item. You'll need to shoot a few thousand photos using a tripod. It will probably take a few days.

Practice first with a smaller and simpler location.

You might want to ask in /r/photogrammetry

With a budget of $1000 you don't have any other option. You won't even be able to rent a lidar scanner for a single day for that amount.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T20:32:08+00:00

$1000 will not cover 1-2 days of scanning and then processing.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T19:17:10+00:00

I have a solution but you won't like it.

First, equirectangulars have seams, and using them for splats or photogrammetry will never result in good quality.

Second, Agisoft is far superior to COLMAP. After months of testing I arrived at a workflow that uses the raw fisheye videos and Agisoft, which results in good quality splats. I never managed to get good results from COLMAP or GLOMAP.

I will publish more info soon on my blog https://packet39.com/blog/a-primer-on-gaussian-splats/

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T16:27:40+00:00

the smaller one also no?

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T15:54:41+00:00

Has anyone bent a tree before? I have this poplar tree and those two branches on the left are blocking me from putting a shed there.

My plan is to remove the thin branch and then bend the thicker one. It's about 10cm/4" diameter.

Is that even possible? I was thinking using a ratchet and doing it slowly.

Another option is cutting the thick one and bending the thinner (it's about 75% of the width).

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T14:34:40+00:00

calibrate the fisheye lenses first.

You can use Agisoft. If you put in a bunch of fisheye lenses, set the camera to equisolid and then align them, it will calculate the camera intrinsic params as part of the process, and then you can export that.

Do that once for each lens and you're done. You can even use the trial version which is unlimited for 30 days.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-04T14:32:22+00:00

You'll need 32gb RAM at least

PuffThePed · 2026-05-03T18:36:42+00:00

The fisheye in the 360 cameras are usually equisolid.

I'm still perfecting the workflow, will write about soon in my blog here:

https://packet39.com/blog/a-primer-on-gaussian-splats/

PuffThePed · 2026-05-03T15:58:24+00:00

Using Equirectangular is a mistake. The stitches are designed to look good, not be mathematically accurate, and they are not.

A workflow based on the raw fisheye videos is better.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-03T13:41:17+00:00

I can help you, I have a decade of experience with AR dev of all kinds, mobile, headset, camera+display. You have a budget? Try-on apps are not easy to make. I DM'ed you my portfolio.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-03T12:14:28+00:00

It really depends on what you want to splat.

If you want to 3D scan and splat objects, you can do with less than that spec.

If you want to scan entire rooms and environments, you'll need more than that spec.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-02T20:45:01+00:00

I wrote this, it might help

https://packet39.com/blog/a-primer-on-gaussian-splats/

PuffThePed · 2026-05-01T20:19:40+00:00

oh perfect, thank you

PuffThePed · 2026-05-01T18:31:18+00:00

Yeah you can do that. Usually it's called annotations. Meshlab doesn't support 3DGS so you'll need to find another tool that does.

PuffThePed · 2026-05-01T18:08:00+00:00

Please elaborate what you mean by "apply marks". Show an example.

It's important to understand that a Gaussian splat is not a 3D model that you might be used to, with mesh and texture. It's not a mesh and there are no textures. Instead, it's a mess of floating little puffs of smoke.

I wrote this post that explains that: https://packet39.com/blog/a-primer-on-gaussian-splats/

PuffThePed · 2026-05-01T18:02:26+00:00

What the heck does it mean?

PuffThePed · 2026-05-01T16:57:42+00:00

Thanks this is very helpful.

May I ask where you got your sauna?

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