# Evaluating Modern Approaches in 3D Scene Reconstruction: NeRF vs Gaussian-Based Methods

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2408.04268 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.04268/

## Key facts

- Cited by 16 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 34 of its 51 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Aug 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 34)

- [ScanNet: Richly-annotated 3D Reconstructions of Indoor Scenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.04405/) (2017)
- [The Replica Dataset: A Digital Replica of Indoor Spaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1906.05797/) (2019)
- [NICE-SLAM: Neural Implicit Scalable Encoding for SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.12130/) (2021)
- [Gaussian Splatting SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.06741/) (2023)
- [SplaTAM: Splat, Track & Map 3D Gaussians for Dense RGB-D SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.02126/) (2023)
- [PointCLIP V2: Prompting CLIP and GPT for Powerful 3D Open-world Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.11682/) (2022)
- [Point-SLAM: Dense Neural Point Cloud-based SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.04278/) (2023)
- [GO-SLAM: Global Optimization for Consistent 3D Instant Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.02436/) (2023)
- [Survival Prediction Across Diverse Cancer Types Using Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.08713/) (2024)
- [A Peek into Token Bias: Large Language Models Are Not Yet Genuine Reasoners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11050/) (2024)
- [Can Language Understand Depth?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2207.01077/) (2022)
- [Deception Detection from Linguistic and Physiological Data Streams Using Bimodal Convolutional Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.10944/) (2023)
- [Convolutional neural network classification of cancer cytopathology images: taking breast cancer as an example](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.08279/) (2024)
- [Exploring Diverse Methods in Visual Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13565/) (2024)
- [Time Series Modeling for Heart Rate Prediction: From ARIMA to Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.12199/) (2024)
- [WorDepth: Variational Language Prior for Monocular Depth Estimation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.03635/) (2024)
- [Regional Style and Color Transfer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13880/) (2024)
- [Credit Card Fraud Detection Using Advanced Transformer Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.03733/) (2024)
- [DDN-SLAM: Real-time Dense Dynamic Neural Implicit SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.01545/) (2024)
- [Detect Any Deepfakes: Segment Anything Meets Face Forgery Detection and Localization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.17075/) (2023)
- [Towards Rationality in Language and Multimodal Agents: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.00252/) (2024)
- [GM-DF: Generalized Multi-Scenario Deepfake Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.20078/) (2024)
- [DeepGI: An Automated Approach for Gastrointestinal Tract Segmentation in MRI Scans](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.15354/) (2024)
- [RTG-SLAM: Real-time 3D Reconstruction at Scale using Gaussian Splatting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.19706/) (2024)
- [Advanced AI Framework for Enhanced Detection and Assessment of Abdominal Trauma: Integrating 3D Segmentation with 2D CNN and RNN Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.16165/) (2024)
- [Towards Open World NeRF-Based SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.03102/) (2023)
- [Advanced Payment Security System:XGBoost, LightGBM and SMOTE Integrated](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.04658/) (2024)
- [Complex Scene Image Editing by Scene Graph Comprehension](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.12849/) (2022)
- [Enhancing Scene Graph Generation with Hierarchical Relationships and Commonsense Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.12889/) (2023)
- [Mapping New Realities: Ground Truth Image Creation with Pix2Pix Image-to-Image Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.19265/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [Harnessing Earnings Reports for Stock Predictions: A QLoRA-Enhanced LLM Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.06634/) (2024)
- [NEVLP: Noise-Robust Framework for Efficient Vision-Language Pre-training](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.09582/) (2024)
- [AR Overlay: Training Image Pose Estimation on Curved Surface in a Synthetic Way](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.14577/) (2024)
- [Recent Advancement of Emotion Cognition in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.13354/) (2024)
- [Data Augmentation Through Random Style Replacement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.10563/) (2025)
- [Style Transfer: From Stitching to Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.00606/) (2024)
- [NeRF-Based defect detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.00270/) (2025)
- [Instruction Tuning and CoT Prompting for Contextual Medical QA with LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.12182/) (2025)
- [Dy3DGS-SLAM: Monocular 3D Gaussian Splatting SLAM for Dynamic Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.05965/) (2025)
- [Enhancing Skin Lesion Diagnosis with Ensemble Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.04381/) (2024)
- [Enhanced Credit Score Prediction Using Ensemble Deep Learning Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.00256/) (2024)
- [Enhancing Exchange Rate Forecasting with Explainable Deep Learning Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.19241/) (2024)
- [Context-Aware Token Selection and Packing for Enhanced Vision Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.23608/) (2024)
- [Modality-Aware Infrared and Visible Image Fusion with Target-Aware Supervision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.11476/) (2025)
- [Pi-GS: Sparse-View Gaussian Splatting with Dense π3 Initialization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.03327/) (2026)
- [Efficient Segment Anything with Depth-Aware Fusion and Limited Training Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.11804/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Exploring the capabilities of Neural Radiance Fields (NeRF) and Gaussian-based methods in the context of 3D scene reconstruction, this study contrasts these modern approaches with traditional Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) systems. Utilizing datasets such as Replica and ScanNet, we assess performance based on tracking accuracy, mapping fidelity, and view synthesis. Findings reveal that NeRF excels in view synthesis, offering unique capabilities in generating new perspectives from existing data, albeit at slower processing speeds. Conversely, Gaussian-based methods provide rapid processing and significant expressiveness but lack comprehensive scene completion. Enhanced by global optimization and loop closure techniques, newer methods like NICE-SLAM and SplaTAM not only surpass older frameworks such as ORB-SLAM2 in terms of robustness but also demonstrate superior performance in dynamic and complex environments. This comparative analysis bridges theoretical research with practical implications, shedding light on future developments in robust 3D scene reconstruction across various real-world applications.