---
title: "PointCloud"
section: "Components"
order: 56
description: "PointCloud — Vuer documentation"
---

# PointCloud

The `PointCloud` component displays point cloud data directly from vertex and color arrays. This is ideal for:

- Real-time point cloud streaming from sensors (LiDAR, depth cameras)
- Visualizing 3D scan data
- Displaying particle systems
- Animating point cloud sequences

## Basic Usage

A minimal example that creates a point cloud from numpy arrays:

```python
import numpy as np
from vuer import Vuer
from vuer.schemas import DefaultScene, PointCloud, OrbitControls

# Create random point cloud
n_points = 1000
vertices = np.random.randn(n_points, 3).astype(np.float32)
colors = np.random.rand(n_points, 3).astype(np.float32)

app = Vuer()

@app.spawn(start=True)
async def main(session):
    session.set @ DefaultScene(
        PointCloud(
            key="pointcloud",
            vertices=vertices,
            colors=colors,
            size=0.02,
        ),
        bgChildren=[
            OrbitControls(key="OrbitControls")
        ],
    )

    await session.forever()
```

## Key Parameters

| Parameter  | Type    | Default | Description                                                                                                        |
| ---------- | ------- | ------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `key`      | str     | -       | Unique identifier for the point cloud                                                                              |
| `vertices` | ndarray | -       | Nx3 array of point positions                                                                                       |
| `colors`   | ndarray | -       | Nx3 array of RGB colors. Supports two formats: Float32 (0-1 range), or Uint8 (0-255 range, **better performance**) |
| `size`     | float   | `0.01`  | Point size                                                                                                         |

## Learn More

For detailed examples of using `PointCloud`, see:

- [Showing Point Clouds](/examples/point_clouds/pointcloud) - Programmatic point cloud display
- [Point Cloud Animation](/examples/point_clouds/animation) - Animating point cloud sequences