This holiday season, I preferred to avoid the crowded malls and shopped online. Yeah, yeah, I know, e-commerce is not a new thing. Unfortunately for me, the virtual storefronts never quite match up to the physical ones. Unlike my store-going friends, I got to base my decision off of 5-6 photographs, maybe (rarely) a video. If I wanted to really get a feel for something, spin it around – forget it. So, I end up hauling myself to the mall, like everyone else.
Retailers have caught on to the e-commerce craze and tried to simulate a physical shopping experience by creating configurators, where materials, colors and parts can be updated in real time. Building a configurator consumes time and resources, and the final result is still limiting.
If you think about it, the consumer experience is out of date and has not caught up with the way products are created. Products are modeled in 3D CAD systems and then produced from the 3D models, yet the consumer experience fall back to a 2D approach. Why not just use the 3D model? There’s a few reasons for that. The first problem is hardware – to visualize a 3D model requires ample GPU processing power, probably not something Nana’s PC has. Second is the high level of photorealism required to sell an item through an image – a picture can tell a thousand words, good or bad depends on the quality of the picture. Finally, there hasn’t been a 3D visualization tool that runs in the browser, well, until Lagoa came along.
Lagoa has solved all these problems. Lagoa bridges the gap between 3D modeling, visualization and e-commerce by giving companies a solution that can take them from design to e-commerce in three easy steps.
For example, the Lagoa AddIn for SpaceClaim is a plugin that works inside SpaceClaim’s leading 3D Modeling software and allows for seamless integration between the two programs, giving users the ability to upload their models straight into Lagoa from 3D Direct. Now, SpaceClaim users can push their rendering work into the cloud, freeing them to continue working on their models locally and speeding time to market.
SpaceClaim user and CEO of 3D Space Pro, Ray Babikian took advantage of the integration to create a jewelry configurator for his clients.
“My customers demand a high-quality, interactive, photoreal experience when purchasing jewelry online. Previously, I spent months creating images to fake a 360 degree rotation of the product, which was tedious and an incomplete experience for the buyer. When I first saw Lagoa, I was shocked. Together with their integration in SpaceClaim, I have the same pipeline from creation, communication to publishing.”
To create the final configurator, Ray worked closely with the Lagoa development team to utilize the Lagoa API. The configurator allows users to view the model from any angle they choose, with beautifully rendered surface finishes and material properties – straight from their browser.
Using the Lagoa with SpaceClaim is easy. Start off with creating a Lagoa account at www.lagoa.com. Then, open up SpaceClaim’s 3D Direct and open up the Add-Ins menu in SpaceClaim Options. Next, check the Lagoa Uploader Add-In and restart. After a one-time authorization process, you’re ready to start rendering in Lagoa. Selecting “Upload to Lagoa” will give you a direct link to the Lagoa cloud application, where you can render, collaborate and publish your design.
Check out this video of Ray Babikian’s ring configurator running in real time!
