High quality parametric visual product configuration systems over the web

ABSTRACT

Visual product configuration systems over the Web promise to significantly improve the core business processes of product and service companies. Such systems allow clients to remotely configure products by interactively selecting a set of options and instantly visualizing their resulting 3D representations on-line. This type of functionality is still very rare on the Web and the few provided solutions are typically far from being satisfying for highly competitive companies. The main limitations of current solutions are mainly due to typical constraints imposed by the interactive exploration of 3D models in a web browser.In this paper we propose an advanced graphical system for visual configuration of 3D products for the Web. We mainly focused on reducing the perceived difference between the 3D representation of the product and the physical product. The viewer performance was increased, supporting new visual features and effects --scenes containing multiple mirrors are supported--, and new levels of methods of interaction added. We demonstrate our approach in a real-world example with the implementation of a complete Web-based visual configuration for a manufacturer of lift cabins.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.7 Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism
          Subjects: Color, shading, shadowing, and texture

Additional Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.6 Methodology and Techniques
      I.3.8 Applications

Keywords:
E-commerce, Web3D, rendering, visual configuration