- Crysta can create a 3D printed model of a Gaussian Splat
- The level of detail is quite remarkable
- It’s not cheap, but it’s breathtaking stuff nonetheless.
Ever wanted to take a real-life scene and reduce it into a snow globe style model (minus the snow) to place on your shelf, preserved forever?
Well, maybe not forever, but you get the idea, and it’s possible to do it now thanks to a company called Crysta.
Like Dany Bittel explains on Patreon, Crysta offered to transform one of their “Gaussian Splats” – of a bee – into a real representation of the insect using a 3D printer.
@Crysta_AI printed one of my bees as a gift! pic.twitter.com/HENIVMXaMJJune 18, 2026
The result, as you can see in the post on X above, is quite spectacular. But wait a minute, I hear you asking (probably): a Gaussian, what now? If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a Gaussian Splat, it’s a 3D model of a real place or object, built from video footage you’ve shot with your camera (or perhaps a drone for more adventurous builds).
We’ve already explained how it works in a detailed article where we used a cloud-based service called Splatica to create our Splat, and suffice to say it’s a very cool process with impressive results.
However, to go one step further with awesomeness, one needs to take this Gaussian Splat model and 3D print it. (Crysta can also do this with an alternative process, Neural Radiance Fields or NeRF).
How is the model (re)transformed into a physical representation? Bittel notes that: “The Gaussian splat is first voxelized, much like a Minecraft level. Each voxel has a mixture of inks and can be more or less transparent. This is then printed on [a] special 3D printer, layer by layer.”
Cubic cost
As Bittel observes, this looks like a modern version of the fly trapped in amber, except that it is an entirely artificial construct, built from an artificial model. I love the idea, and if you do too, you might be wondering how much it costs.
The truth is that it is not cheap, as you might guess. You’ll have to shell out for a Splatica subscription if you go the same route as TechRadar, which is quite expensive (or use an equivalent service or app).
The actual printing of the model by Crysta will cost around $140 in the US for a 30mm cube, according to Bittel as a guide price (they received one for free, as a gift, in case you were wondering). You can go up to a 300mm cube if you want a decoration that has a real impact on your room (and probably on your wallet too).
The company ships the 3D printed models worldwide, although of course shipping outside the United States will cost more.
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