Introducing Varjo Teleport: A Comprehensive Tool for Environment Scanning, Available Now

The big news today is Varjo’s launch of Teleport, a tool for scanning and recreating environments using the innovative technique of Gaussian Splats. I managed to get an exclusive firsthand experience with it, and I’m here to not just deliver the day’s headlines but also to share my insights from testing this intriguing new product. There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dive in!

Before we get too far, it’s disclaimer time — a trend beloved by VR journalists these days. Varjo didn’t fund my trip to Helsinki; I was there thanks to the Helsinki XR Center for MatchXR. However, I did receive some delicious chocolate from Varjo folks. Let’s just say chocolate can sway my bias a bit!

Varjo, a leader in professional VR headsets, renowned for high-resolution devices like the XR-4 Focal Edition with its unmatched passthrough quality, has taken a step beyond hardware. They’ve launched Varjo Teleport—a service aimed at letting you scan any environment using just your phone. Later, you can virtually step into that scanned space using any of your devices, including VR headsets. This “teleportation” concept hinges on digitalizing environments to allow virtual visits, utilizing the currently popular Gaussian Splatting technique for rendering.

Having previewed Teleport at this year’s AWE US, it seemed promising albeit slightly raw. Today marks its public launch, and I’m here to walk you through all its key features.

To start with Teleport, you need to scan an environment. Varjo emphasized user-friendliness for this step, aiming to make it accessible to everyone, not just professionals. You can scan moderate-sized places in a speedy 5-10 minutes, reflecting their dedication to simplicity being a top selling point for Teleport. Right now, scanning requires an iPhone due to the LiDAR technology. You simply use the Teleport app to film the environment from various angles, upload the data to the cloud, and let Varjo’s servers transform your video into a fully virtual space.

How many scans you can do depends on your Varjo subscription tier.

I had the opportunity to test the scanning process. The Varjo team claimed anyone could do it, so I volunteered as a guinea pig. The employees stayed hilariously statue-still while I played around, capturing the room’s details. The Teleport app provides an intuitive guide with pictures and brief instructions on maximizing your scan’s quality.

As a novice in scanning, I initially struggled, mostly wandering in circles with the phone at varying heights. The app advised spending extra time on significant objects for better VR rendering, leading me to focus on a flight simulation chair. I did blunder a bit: I moved too fast, captured empty walls instead of wider ones, and skimped on the floor and ceiling scans.

The app’s interface felt somewhat like recording a video, with a frame counter keeping track. The system identifies keyframes rather than using entire videos to construct environments. After reaching about 600 frames, I wrapped it up. Thankfully, the gracious Varjo crew, frozen in dramatic poses, were free to move again after ensuring I had completed my task.

Post-scan, I received feedback from Varjo, who kindly called my attempt “not bad for a first try,” though I’d admit it was more of a “could use some improvement.” While some parts, like detailed items, were decently reconstructed, others weren’t up to scratch, beautifully highlighting the learning curve everyone goes through. Varjo is working on enhancing system tolerance for scanning errors, which should help significantly.

Once your scan is uploaded, Varjo’s servers take a bit of time — around 2 to 4 hours usually, but it could stretch to a full day — before the environment is ready for exploration.

A smart move by Varjo is making these environments accessible to everyone via the web, instead of just VR-focused users. You just obtain a link from the Teleport portal and explore these virtual spaces on any device with a browser. The quality scales to fit different devices, much like adjusting video quality on platforms like YouTube. VR uses the ULTRA-HD setting for the best experience, requiring robust hardware like an NVIDIA RTX 3090 or better.

Even in web-based exploration, real-time rendering occurs locally, not through pixel streaming — helping ensure smoother visuals. Yet, VR users need to install the Varjo Teleport desktop client as Teleport lacks standalone headset support like WebXR and isn’t available on devices like the Quest 3 or Pico 4 Ultra yet.

I checked out some phenomenal scans done by Varjo and its partners. Their closed beta prior to the launch engaged about 2,000 professionals and businesses to polish the service. The results varied from sublime to needing improvement—showcasing just how powerful good scanning techniques are.

Viewing these captured environments can feel almost magical, bringing real-world spaces to life in VR. However, artifacts from reconstruction can disrupt this illusion. Varjo could consider leveraging AI or subtle visual tricks to refine poorly captured elements for smoother viewing.

Exploration options in VR includes teleportation or free-flying to fully appreciate these recreated worlds, though the latter can cause motion sickness if you’re not used to VR.

Testing Teleport across different platforms found it to generally perform well, though heavy scenes could strain less equipped devices, suggesting room for optimization work from Varjo.

As for competition, Varjo Teleport holds its own against competitors like Horizon Hyperscape and Gracia. Hyperscape showcases remarkable static environments using Meta’s cloud streaming, whereas Gracia excels with dynamic scenes and local rendering. Teleport offers user-friendly scanning and sharing as well as local rendering, making it a strong contender especially in static scene virtue.

Teleport, priced at €30/month for 15 scans, might appeal more to professionals than hobbyists due to its comprehensive utilities across environment scanning, sharing, and visualization.

Looking forward, Varjo Teleport’s potential for enterprises is undeniable—think virtual house tours or overseeing construction projects remotely. But it’s the consumer market where I see long-term transformation, imagining a future where “teleporting” replaces simple photography for capturing and sharing our experiences.

Overall, Varjo Teleport presents an exciting leap into environment scanning and VR immersion. With continued refinements, it could redefine how we capture, share, and relive our memories.

Special thanks to Annaleena, Valeria, Jobin, and the ‘secret guy’ for their help during my demo and for explaining Teleport so well!

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