3D models that look real are increasingly a strategic asset not only for marketing, but also for design and production. What level of quality have we reached? How much does one have to invest to use them?
September 2024
Covision Media is a spin-off technology company of the Covision Lab network, a research centre in the field of artificial intelligence applied to images, founded in 2019.
“The ambition is to bring technological innovation to our region, South Tyrol (Italy), but also to become an international leader in some specific niches”, explains Franz Tschimben, CEO and Co-Founder of the company. Covision Media brings together computer vision and machine learning specialists with the aim of fusing Artificial Intelligence with 3D scanning technology to create accurate 3D digital twins from real-world objects.
Why did you choose the niche of 3D modelling?
“It is a field in which there has been no particular technological advancement in the last 15 years. Certainly, the increasing computational power of computers has improved visual performance, but there has never been a major advance in terms of mass generation of the highest quality 3D model. We have focused precisely on this aspect”.
Who are your stakeholders?
“Covision Media’s 3D scanners are designed specifically for companies that are looking for real-life, fully automated and scalable 3D assets for their products”.
The downturns keep coming over the last 10 years. Is there actually a market for this type of innovation?
“Today, the demand for quality 3D modelling for mid- to high-end products is very large. The ground is fertile. There are several positive factors nurturing the growing success of such technologies.
The first is having achieved processing and production times for a 3D model that are acceptable for the industrial world.
The second is the almost immediate possibility of uploading a 3D model to a smartphone, a scenario that was unthinkable 3 or 4 years ago.
In addition, the pandemic has led many companies to feel the need for 3D models of their products.
A further positive development is the interest shown by the manufacturing world, which has realised the advantages of 3D modelling and virtual prototyping that cuts costs and speeds up processes.
Whereas until a few years ago we were working exclusively with e-commerce and marketing departments, today we are increasingly dealing with design teams as well”.
What is the purpose of scanning a product and have a 3D model?
“Customers use them for a few main purposes. They are:
– embedded in a web player to allow customers to zoom in, zoom out and rotate assets;
– used for augmented reality, such as virtual try-on applications;
– used to derive traditional 2D product photos from 3D models;
– used to derive short videos from 3D assets;
– embedded in virtual environments and contextual 2D photos and videos;
– become part of Virtual Reality or Mixed Reality experiences on platforms such as Apple’s Vision Pro or Meta’s Quest 3”.
Which companies are already focusing on this technology?
“I can mention some of our customers, such as Adidas and NUREG, the Inditex group with the brands ZARA, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, and also Gore-Tex, La Sportiva, DMT, Dr. Martens and Salomon. After starting out in the footwear world, which seemed to us the most promising, we expanded our horizons and, today, we also work with the gaming world or with realities such as Meta Reality Labs”.
What is the state of the art of 3D modelling?
“Today, a 3D model can be realised ‘by hand’ by a CGI department through the generation of a CAD model that is also used for the creation of images and films through a huge investment in post-production, but without achieving a very high level of quality. In particular, ‘relightability’, i.e. the possibility of inserting the 3D model in any virtual context (such as a digital photo studio) ensuring a natural interaction with the chosen lighting in this virtual context, is not acceptable.
The other possibility is that of scanning a real object by means of photogrammetry devices that take many images in neutral and constant light conditions and then assemble them. Again, a lot of post-production has to be applied to get a good rendering”.
Have you found a third way?
“Our solution measures the reflections of light on the object mathematically and scientifically. This is the most important innovation we have developed: being able to separate the light from the object being scanned. Unlike other scanners that rely only on photogrammetry, the Covision scanner employs advanced computer vision and machine learning technology that can guarantee re-lightable 3D assets with photorealistic quality, natural interaction with virtual light sources, adaptability to various virtual environments and versatility for photos and videos of e-commerce products.
We have developed 2 products – the DTwin 1 and DTwin 2 – respectively dedicated to scanning rigid and deformable objects, such as bags and clothes”.
Scanned and produced by NUREG for adidas
How exactly does one of your scanners work?
“Objects are statically positioned thanks to ‘invisible’ supports that guarantee accurate 3D scans of real quality. The scanner – equipped with a multi-camera system, projectors and light points – acquires almost complete spherical scans in a single shot. With the D-Twin 1, scanning a single object takes less than 12 minutes. While with the D-Twin 2 it takes 10 minutes.
One of the advantages of our system is that it requires no operator experience. Two days of training is enough to allow anyone to use our scanners”.
To date, what are the weaknesses that 3D modelling still struggles to address?
“Reflections and transparencies have always been an Achilles heel for computer vision and 3D model generation. They are features that still need a lot of post-production for their rendering to be adequate. We are also working on these factors, taking full advantage of our expertise in artificial intelligence, to make the rendering of even these hitherto very difficult surfaces increasingly automated. In these cases we use, for example, AI techniques such as NeRF, i.e. Neural Radiance Fields, and Gaussian Splatting”.
What business model are you developing?
“Customers can buy or rent our 3D scanners, and each 3D model generated costs around EUR 100. In addition, we are moving in the direction of offering increasingly wide-ranging services. Those who do not want to have an in-house facility can rely on our scanning services currently available in Europe, through our partner company NUREG based in Germany, and in the US, with QUAD Inc. Soon we will also arrive in Asia.
We are also developing several collaborations with other technology companies (for instance, with those in the Digital Asset Management or Virtual Try-On sectors) to provide a complete platform for 3D modelling applications”.
Is there any secret ingredient that has enabled you to be as successful as you have been?
“I believe the international team of professionals we have assembled. A team of Italians, Germans, Americans, Mexicans, Nepalese, Indians. We all work together in Brixen and our different ways of approaching the topics we deal with lead us to innovative solutions”.
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