Splaxtraction

Gaussian Splats as Extractive Vision and the Environmental Cost of Volumetric Imaging

Milnes, Tom ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5181-2063 (2026) Splaxtraction. INSAM Journal of Contemporary Music, Art and Technology, I (16). pp. 26-39. ISSN 2637-1898

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Text (Journal article proposing the term splaxtraction to describe the dual process through which Gaussian splatting both extracts environments into computational resources and depends on extractive infrastructures of labour, energy, and hardware.) 3.+INSAM+16_Milnes.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract / Summary

This article examines Gaussian splatting and adjacent volumetric imaging practices through media archaeology and media ecology. It asks how the apparent smoothness of probabilistic spatial images depends on less visible operations of capture, dataset circulation, cloud computation, minerals, and electronic waste. I propose the concept of splaxtraction to name this double movement: volumetric images extract environments into transferable computational resources, while also being produced through extractive infrastructures of labour, energy, hardware, and platform power. Rather than treating Gaussian splats as a neutral improvement in visual realism, the article situates them within longer histories of photogrammetry, operational imaging, media geology, and dataset critique. The contribution is a critical vocabulary for reading volumetric images as infrastructural assemblages whose seams, uncertainties, and material supports should remain visible within eco-critical artistic and curatorial practice.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number:	10.51191/issn.2637-1898.2026.9.16.26
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Gaussian splatting; photogrammetry; machine vision; media archaeology; extractivism; e-waste; dataset ethics; eco-critique
ISSN:	2637-1898
Subjects:	Research > AIR Art History & Theory Creative Art & Design Computing & Data Science Creative Art & Design > Fine Art Creative Art & Design > Photography Research
Department:	Academy of Innovation and Research
Related URLs:	https://insamjournal.com/index.php/ij/ar...
Depositing User:	Tom Milnes
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2026 15:24
Last Modified:	28 Jul 2026 15:24
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/6552

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