TreesTimeGS

Augmented reality app bringing the living root bridge of Nongbareh, India to life as Gaussian splats within the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich.

TreesTimeGS is an augmented reality (AR) project that brings the living root bridge of Nongbareh, India, into the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. Using photogrammetry, 3D Gaussian Splatting, and AR, the project lets visitors experience this unique, old structure in a new digital context—blending nature and technology.

Photogrammetry dataset image — Real image from the Dataset

AR app screenshot — Screenshot of the AR app showing the bridge in the museum

The living root bridges in Meghalaya aren’t built—they’re grown. The Khasi people have been guiding the roots of Ficus trees for generations, turning them into these amazing, living walkways. For TreesTimeGS, I wanted to capture not just how the bridge looks, but also the feeling and story behind it. It’s about sharing something unique and alive, and seeing what happens when you blend old traditions with new technology.

The dataset was captured by Wilfrid Middleton for one of his research papers at the Chair for Green Technologies at the Technical University of Munich. His research focuses on the living root bridges in Meghalaya, exploring not just the properties of these bridges but also developing new analysis techniques—like extracting skeletons from photogrammetry meshes to measure strain and resistance.

Wilfrid traveled to India many times for his research and was kind enough to provide one of his datasets—in this case, of the bridge in Nongbareh.

This data was processed with 3D Gaussian Splatting, which allows for smooth, real-time rendering of complex shapes. The AR app runs on iPads, which are hung from the ceiling so visitors can walk around the bridge at full scale and explore its details in the museum space.

Photogrammetry: 500+ photos, processed into a dense 3D volume.
Gaussian Splatting: Converts the point cloud into a smooth, interactive visualization.
AR & Metal: Built in Unity, optimized Gaussians for iPad.

More detailed technical write-up to come in the future.

TreesTimeGS was shown as part of the “Trees, Time, Architecture! Design in Constant Transformation” exhibition at the Pinakothek der Moderne from March 12, 2024 to September 14, 2024.

You can check out the full bridge on this page.