Month: April 2022

What are Digital 3D Assets?

Digital 3D assets, also referred to as virtual fashion or digital fashion, are at the root of fashion in the metaverse. Vogue Business notes these assets are: “created using fashion-specific 3D design software, [they] can be photorealistic or stylized to suit specific environments. They can be used throughout a product’s supply chain, from design, sampling, and wholesale to AR experiences, digital fashion, and virtual worlds.” 

How Brands Are Employing Digital 3D Assets

Digital 3D assets have far more impact than just being used as clothing for digital avatars. Brands are using them in creative ways to drive conversions, sustainability, and a faster time-to-market. By using digital 3D assets as opposed to 2D clothing images on product pages, brands can make more life-like online images of products and provide additional context; users can twist, turn, and inspect photorealistic 3D images of the product. Additional use cases for digital 3D assets include visualizing how products will look on a display wall or virtually merchandising a retailer’s purchase order. 

Since digital 3D assets can be displayed and showroomed for marketing purposes before the production of the product, costs and time-to-market for physical products are reduced. The presence of digital 3D assets has shown early success with enhanced customer engagement and higher conversion rates. Rebecca Minkoff saw a 27% increase in conversions when it added 3D product imagery for their products to their e-commerce site. The brand also found that users who interacted with a 3D product image on their e-commerce site were up to 44% more likely to add a product to the cart and 27% more likely to convert an order. Consumers are starting to expect 3D models on e-commerce sites, and companies such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Shopify are already approving partners and rolling out plans to create 3D assets for brands’ products. 

Digital 3D assets also play a vital role in helping the fashion industry meet its sustainability goals, lessening the number of items produced and minimizing the number of resources needed to develop collections. Fashion brands are scaling back on the physical production of items before they are purchased or hit runways, leveraging 3D digital assets towards this effort. As an example of this shift in behavior, Tommy Hilfiger has altered their design process to move away from sketching on paper and iterating on physical samples before sending them to showrooms. According to Vogue Business, “The vast majority of Tommy Hilfiger clothing will not be physically produced until it appears on the runway or is sold.” Tommy Hilfiger, for example, now relies on 3D design for its entire design process. Digital 3D assets have decreased Tommy Hilfiger’s collection development process by two weeks. Daniel Grieder, former CEO of Tommy Hilfiger Global and its parent company PVH Europe, has said, “The potential of 3D design is limitless, allowing us to meet consumer needs faster and in a more sustainable way… [it] has become a fundamental tool in our collection design and has the potential to significantly accelerate our speed-to-market.” Digital 3D assets will equip the Tommy Hilfiger brand with the foundational, necessary marketing and retailing tools it needs to meet its sustainability endeavors and stay competitive in today’s marketplace. 

Diane von Furstenberg is also transitioning their design process from the production of two-dimensional sketches into three-dimensional renderings. This transition will enable the brand to visualize design changes before going into production, helping the brand’s sustainability efforts by eliminating waste. While the project was created in part to enhance the brand’s sustainability initiatives, it has the added benefit of an improved customer buying experience. The brand is working towards a platform in which users can personalize their own wrap dress, adjusting the length of the dress and alternating the colors. Instantly, the customer can view the personalization of the dress via a 3D model and purchase it. This method resolves the problem of unsold goods, as the dress is only produced after the personalized 3D model is created.   

On a similar note, Farfetch leveraged digital renders in partnership with digital fashion marketplace DressX to dress influencers before its pre-sale offerings. New, digital-only fashion brands and platforms like DressX and Fabricant are emerging as brands’ interest in digital fashion increases. “By going digital we were able to save 346,698 liters of water, that is enough for 20 people to drink for 24 years. We also saved 2,525 kg CO2 eq, which accounts for 97.86% of CO2 emissions produced by a similar campaign in the physical space and equals 29 years of using a smartphone for 10 hours a day,” Farfetch stated. The Farfetch and DressX pre-sale campaign was considered a success, as it was the “first carbon-neutral fashion campaign in the world” (RTIH). From helping reach sustainability efforts to providing a more engaging, interactive shopping experience, digital 3D assets are proving their value for brands.

Digital 3D Assets as the Backbone of the Metaverse

Digital assets are key to brands wanting to enter into the metaverse, as most metaverse environments only permit the selling of digital assets. Digital items are readily being purchased in metaverse environments; according to the Metaverse Mindset: Consumer Shopping Insights Survey nearly three-quarters (74%) of Gen Zers have purchased a digital item such as an accessory, skin, or garment for their avatar within an online video game. The metaverse is taking shape as the next generation of the internet, and retailers and brands will need to establish their presence in it to keep up with consumer adoption. Early movers experimenting with 3D digital assets will have a natural advantage. Obsess, a Metaverse Shopping platform, enables leading brands to enter the metaverse and start utilizing and selling 3D digital assets. Our highly customized, 3D virtual experiences live on brands’ websites and are currently the only metaverse environment where brands can sell both 3D digital assets and physical products. As your strategic partner, Obsess helps shape your metaverse strategy and assists with the execution of your metaverse plan. Learn more about how Obsess can help you establish your presence in the metaverse.

Brands are moving fast to leverage technology that will empower them with 360-degree, immersive digital experiences. These 3D experiences offer a natural opportunity for brands to enter into the metaverse. 

Immersive digital experiences are powered by Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). AR and VR, while used interchangeably, have distinct differences. Typically, AR uses aspects of real-world settings and environments enhanced by computer-generated graphics, whereas VR is entirely virtual. A way to think about the distinction, as Wunderman Thompson reports, is “Augmented reality is when you’re still within your current environment, and you’re just overlaying computer graphics on top of what you’re seeing—whereas with virtual reality you’re taken to a different world.” Most people have their first interaction with AR through filters on Snapchat and Instagram and with virtual try-on technologies on beauty sites. Whereas, most people have their first interaction with VR on the web via games, virtual tours, and virtual stores.

Snap, Meta and Apple Invest in VR and AR Technology

The rapid rise of immersive technology has prompted the world’s most powerful tech and social media companies to invest significant capital and resources towards the research and development of AR and VR products. 

Meta, as part of its October 2021 rebrand, invested $10 billion in VR and AR in an attempt to pivot the firm’s focus from social media to the metaverse. This transition has been in the works for a number of years, beginning when Facebook acquired VR-headset startup Oculus for $2 billion in 2014. According to a March 2021 report from The Information, nearly a fifth of all Meta employees — about 10,000 people — are working on VR/AR in the company’s Facebook Reality Labs (FRL) division. FRL is responsible for developing the software that will lay the foundation for Meta’s virtual platform.

Apple announced the expansion of its AR focus in January 2022, stating it has plans to grow the App Store’s current collection of 14,000 AR apps. The iOS 15 software update included AR-backed positioning and locating features on the Maps app. It is anticipated that the company will build AR tools for 1 billion devices around the world. Recently, CEO Tim Cook responded to a question regarding the company’s metaverse plans, saying, “We see a lot of potential in this space and are investing accordingly.” On the hardware side, Apple is working to introduce an AR headset with glasses in either 2022 or 2023, according to Bloomberg.

The most innovative element of Snap Inc.’s business is arguably in its augmented reality lenses, which were most of the world’s introduction to AR. Through these lenses — which today number at 2.5 million and have accumulated over 3.5 trillion views on the app — users are able to augment and alter their appearances from an extensive catalog of options that include fantastical and increasingly lifelike features. In addition, Snap has a global creative studio called Arcadia dedicated to helping brands develop augmented reality advertising and experiences. The studio has partnered with leading brands to grab the attention of Snapchat’s millennial and Gen Z audiences. Snap advanced further into the AR space in 2021 with its acquisition of WaveOptics, a company that makes lenses and other hardware that can be leveraged in AR glasses. With the acquisition, Snap can match its competitors and develop AR glasses that will allow users to see computer-generated imagery overlaid on top of the real world. One common goal of all these companies is to perfect easily-wearable AR glasses, which will allow people to see digital items overlaid on the world around them.

Oculus Quest is the Best-Selling VR Headset to Date

Currently, the Oculus Quest is the leader in wireless VR headsets. The first edition of Oculus Quest introduced immersive gaming to both newcomers and seasoned gamers across the world. The pandemic accelerated adoption of the Oculus Quest and its applications transcended from gaming to everyday lifestyle activities, like fitness workouts. According to Meta Quest news, Oculus Quest 2 “is the next generation of all-in-one VR with a redesigned all-in-one form factor, new Touch controllers, and a high-resolution display.” With the launch of Quest 2, users are able to “squad up with friends in different time zones, meet up with real people at virtual events, and create, play, [and] explore together from wherever.” The audience for Oculus Quest is still predominantly male, but female ownership is ever increasing. In the last three years, the Meta Quest store — which initially launched in 2019 and provides a platform for the headsets’ games — has more than quadrupled in revenue. In fact, total sales have surpassed $1 billion, marking a massive uptick in people buying VR software since the release of the Meta Quest 2 in late 2020 (PCGamer).

Headset-Based Experiences by Retailers

Retailers have ventured into headset-based experiences and have begun exploring the capabilities of immersive VR. One example of this is the global fast-food chain Wendy’s. Wendy’s created its virtual world, dubbed “Wendyverse”, in the metaverse in partnership with Meta’s Horizon Worlds. With Quest 2 VR headsets, users enter the Wendy’s 3D-world and walk through a virtual town that is entirely Wendy’s themed, replete with a virtual restaurant, a Fanta-filled park fountain, and an online arena where users can play basketball with a virtual Baconator burger. Wendyverse visitors also receive a coupon for a $1 breakfast sandwich to use in real life. The Dyson Demo VR is a 360-degree virtual reality environment that enables customers to style virtual hair and interact with 3D images of Dyson machines. The virtual experience is accessible through the Oculus store for Quest VR headset owners. Users enter a virtual showroom and can experiment with a range of products from the Corrale straightener to the Airwrap styler and test different styles on virtual hair. Sean Newmarch, Dyson’s e-commerce director, commented, “Covid-19 has presented the digital world with unprecedented opportunities, and we’re seeing a heightened focus on how companies are bringing their products to life for consumers virtually” (Glossy).

Brands Leverage VR Tech and AR Try-On Tools

Beauty and fashion brands are harnessing the power of AR try-on tools to improve the customer’s buying journey and encourage purchasing decisions virtually. AR try-on tools allow customers to try on clothes, makeup, and skincare products, without physically being in a store. Two of the main players in the AR try-on space for beauty are ModiFace and Perfect Corp. ModiFace beauty try-ons track the facial features in precise detail to create an accurate, photo-realistic makeup simulation. Perfect Corp provides a range of virtual try-on technologies from AgileHand, AR hand–tracking technology to AgileFace, AR face–tracking technology. Brands are exploring virtual try-on within their websites to provide consumers with an accurate sense of the look, feel, and size of the product. NARS offers an interactive, AR try-on via their website where customers can “try everything once” through simulations on live video. The NARS virtual store powered by Obsess enables users to virtually try on over 500 shades of lip color and find their ideal foundation shade with Matchmaker AR technology.

Beauty brands are leveraging AR filters that enable augmentation and alteration of appearances to increase consumer engagement and interaction. Instagram AR filters help brands showcase their products in a fun, interactive way and engage worldwide audiences. The ‘Kylie Hearts’ Instagram AR filter by Kylie Cosmetics allows fans to create a fantastical heart-shape, blush makeup look. While the ‘Air Matte’ AR Instagram filter by NARS provides users with a more realistic view of how the blush colors from their Air Matte selection will appear on them; users can choose the shade that best suits their skin type. The Dior Makeup Instagram AR filter empowers users to lay gemstones over their faces, pushing beyond the boundaries of real-world makeup and “creating a new form of ‘homoinstagramus’ beauty.” With the ‘Norvina Arcade’ filter by Anastasia Beverly Hills, users can play with four different personalities and try on a purple unicorn teddy, bunny ears, a blue alien, or the Norvina eyeshadow palette filter. 

Fashion and jewelry pioneers of AR try-on tools include Farfetch, Prada, and Piaget, all of which leveraged Snapchat’s virtual try-on features “that [detect] and [respond] to body movements and facial dimensions” (Vogue Business). Users are encouraged to test the products on themselves through easy-to-use filters that can be both voice and gesture-controlled. Farfetch, for example, leveraged Snapchat’s technology to allow users to see clothing displayed on their bodies — a tool that is enabled by 3D Body Mesh which maps the human body and develops a cloth simulation that makes the clothing appear as if it is affected by gravity. Pieces from Off-White by Virgil Abloh were available for try-on, and voice-command features matched users’ words to items in the product catalog for a bespoke experience. Prada, as well, leveraged Snap’s hands-free try-on technology to detect hand gestures, enabling users to set down their phones and try on Prada handbags by using “swiping” gestures to switch the colors of the products. Piaget employed Snap’s AR technology to allow users to try on bracelets and watches — a perfect application for a brand specializing in just that.

Retailers Create VR Stores

Leading brands are leveraging VR and journeying into the metaverse with interactive, 3D virtual store experiences. Virtual stores enable retailers to offer new, unique experiences and elevate their traditional e-commerce sites. Obsess, the leading Virtual Store Platform, enables brands and retailers globally to offer interactive 3D virtual stores on their sites that can be accessed on a computer or smartphone, or with VR headsets. AR try-on technology can be integrated into virtual stores and as customers discover products in the virtual environment, and then seamlessly transition to AR to try the product on themselves.

These virtual shopping experiences serve as an entry point into the metaverse. Neha Singh, CEO, and Founder of Obsess, commented in Forbes, “The metaverse is just the next version of the internet. At first, it was just text, then images, then videos. Now hardware on our mobile devices and computers allows for much richer, virtual graphics.” These ‘virtual graphics’ allow Obsess to create realistic online adventures that mirror the highly interactive nature of in-person shopping experiences. Younger generations are growing up in the age of VR and AR-first. The virtual world will become their real world, and they will be — and to some extent already are — shopping, socializing, and hanging out in virtual experiences on a daily basis.

Learn more about how your brand can utilize VR/AR technology to engage customers with an interactive, immersive, 3D virtual store experience, using the Obsess platform.