The Khronos Group ratified KHR_gaussian_splatting as a glTF 2.0 extension in February, defining for the first time how Gaussian Splatting attributes — positions, scales, rotations, opacities, spherical harmonic coefficients — are stored inside a glTF mesh primitive. Backing came from Google, NVIDIA, Apple, and Bentley Systems, which is a heavier industry coalition than any prior 3D format extension has assembled at ratification.

Per the writeup at The Future 3D, the extension also locks in conventions for SOGS (Scene Object Gaussian Splats) compression, the SuperSplat editor's de facto reference format.

Why it matters

For two years Gaussian Splatting has been the most exciting capture technique nobody could ship. Every research lab and every camera vendor produced 3DGS files in their own format. Web viewers diverged. Editorial tools diverged. There was no answer to the simplest question a producer asks: how do I deliver this scene to my audience?

glTF answers that. It's already the standard 3D format on the web, in iOS Quick Look, in Android's Scene Viewer, and in Unreal/Unity import pipelines. Pinning Gaussian Splatting to glTF means a single .glb file now carries both classical mesh geometry and 3DGS scenes — a producer can ship a hybrid asset to any standards-compliant viewer.

The signatory list matters more than the spec. Apple in this list strongly hints at Quick Look support and, eventually, native Vision Pro playback. Google means Android and Chrome. NVIDIA means production tools (Omniverse already supports the format). Bentley means architecture, engineering, and construction — the enterprise vertical that pays for capture work.

What's already shipping

The standard arrives into a tooling ecosystem that has matured fast. Per industry reporting, Foundry's Nuke 17 ships native 3DGS support; SideFX Houdini 21 includes a technical preview; OpenUSD 26.03 added a first-class schema; Chaos V-Ray 7 can ray-trace splats. Web viewers built on PlayCanvas (SuperSplat, Splat Viewer, Spline) already render the format on standard mobile browsers.

What's next

The gating question for the rest of 2026 is whether iOS adds first-party glTF Gaussian Splatting support in iOS 27 / visionOS 27. If yes, every iPhone 15 Pro user becomes a 3DGS capture device with a stable delivery path. If no, the format remains web-first and enterprise-led — still important, but a slower build.