One big reason why people are excited is that it's finally a practical way to synthesize and render complete photorealistic 3D scenes without any of the traditional structural elements like triangle meshes and texture maps.
Think of the difference between vector graphics (like SVG) and bitmap graphics (like JPEG or PNG). While vectors are very useful for many things, it would be quite limiting if they were the only form of 2D computer graphics, and digital photos and videos simply didn't exist. That's where we have been in 3D until now.
Think of the difference between vector graphics (like SVG) and bitmap graphics (like JPEG or PNG). While vectors are very useful for many things, it would be quite limiting if they were the only form of 2D computer graphics, and digital photos and videos simply didn't exist. That's where we have been in 3D until now.