Point clouds are datasets that represent objects or space. These points represent the X, Y, and Z geometric coordinates of a single point on an underlying sampled surface. Point clouds are a means of collating a large number of single spatial measurements into a dataset that can then represent a whole. When colour information is present, the point cloud becomes 4D.
Point clouds are most commonly generated using 3D laser scanners and LiDAR (light detection and ranging) technology and techniques. Here, each point represents a single laser scan measurement. These scans are then stitched together, creating a complete capture of a scene, using a process called ‘registration’. Conversely, point clouds can be synthetically generated from a computer program.