SLAM, or Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, has undergone remarkable development over two decades. A recent survey, titled How NeRFs and 3D Gaussian Splatting are Reshaping SLAM, offers the first comprehensive overview of SLAM’s progress, focusing particularly on innovative Neural Radiance Fields (NeRFs) and 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) representations.

Survey Highlights:

• Traces SLAM’s evolution from early hand-crafted methods to the deep learning era and current NeRFs and 3DGS technologies.
• Examines the background, strengths, limitations, and developmental trajectory of SLAM research.
• Acts as a vital reference, underscoring the dynamic progress and pinpointing specific challenges within the field.

Potential Impact:

This paper is crucial for understanding SLAM’s development and the transformative role of NeRFs and 3DGS. These technologies can potentially redefine how autonomous systems navigate and understand unknown environments, opening doors for further research in areas such as robotics and augmented reality.