[a_e_k]

These sorts of data sets can be useful for graphics research, particular as a data set to test ray tracing algorithms on.

See for example, the Moana Island data set. [1]

I definitely foresee papers on BVH construction using this scene.

For graphics research in academia, there's a dearth of real-world data sets like this, so the ones that do get released are gold. And for graphics research in industry, one may have access to good internal data sets for development and testing, but getting permission to publish anything with them tends to be a giant hassle. It's often easier to just use publicly available data sets. Plus, that makes it easier to compare results across papers.

[1] https://www.disneyanimation.com/resources/moana-island-scene...

[modeless]

The Moana island has complete material data though. This release seems to be only geometry. No materials or textures at all.

[a_e_k]

Yep. That's still fine for building BVHs and shooting some rays around.

[SkyPuncher]

Thank you for explaining that. Very helpful.