Challenge: Creating digital furniture models that are so realistic that interior designers can use them to virtually plan decor, achieve the perfect look and feel of a space, and realize their creative visions.
Solution: Artec Leo, Artec Studio, Autodesk 3ds Max
The result: A growing catalog with thousands of realistic digital furniture sets. These models allow Rooms To Go customers to visualize interiors, check whether the furniture fits the space and more easily experiment with styles before making a purchase decision.
Why Artec 3D?: The Leo 3D scanner enables fast scanning of medium-sized objects in just a few minutes, capturing even the smallest details, even on demanding glossy or soft surfaces. Thanks to its unique portability, this completely wireless device can be easily taken to photo shoots for digitizing as needed.
Designing the ideal living space sounds fun, right? Who hasn't flipped through magazines, choosing decorative items and imagining how they could be used to create the perfect relaxation corner?
With social media spreading design ideas at the speed of light and DIY tools more accessible than ever, the concept of building a "dream home" is quickly becoming a reality.
However, as any DIY enthusiast will tell you, interior design isn't quite that simple. Starting with accurate measurements is key so that the furniture fits the space perfectly. Additionally, unlike most other forms of retail that can easily be done online, furniture often has to be assessed live – because how else to assess texture, comfort and style?
In an effort to reverse this trend, furniture specialist Rooms To Go has enhanced its online presence, digitizing decor for its customers by scanning beautiful textures with Artec Leo devices, step by step.
Prepare for change.
Since its founding in 1990, Rooms To Go has grown into one of the largest furniture chains in the US, with over 7,500 employees and stores in 137 locations. Much of this success has been achieved by adhering to a basic principle: selling complete "rooms."
In keeping with its tagline , "Buy a single piece, save a little. Buy an entire room, save a lot," Rooms To Go continues to focus on selling affordable furniture collections, rather than individual items. In their stores, they often set up wide, open showrooms so customers could see furniture sets from all angles – an approach they're now carrying over to their digital offering.
According to Juan Rodriguez, quality control manager in the 3D visualization team, online images only provide an isometric view, without additional information. With customers looking to achieve a certain aesthetic when arranging their furniture, Rooms To Go began 3D modeling of the entire range to enable them to make more informed design decisions.
However, this process was not without its challenges. The company's catalog is full of items with traditionally difficult surfaces to digitize, such as dark, glossy or fur-coated textures. Fortunately, the 3D Visualization Department carefully selected the digitizer, and now the Rooms To Go website has thousands of stunningly realistic 3D models, captured exclusively with Artec Leo scanners.
Next-level interior design
Rooms To Go first saw the Artec Leo on demo during the Amazon AWS Showcase. With a scanning accuracy of 0.1 mm and a speed of up to 35 million points per second, the unique device quickly impressed the 3D Visualization Department.
After deciding on Leo, the team contacted Artec ambassador Digitize Designs , who equipped them with the device and provided a full day of training.
Integrating the industry's first wireless AI scanner into their workflow proved to be completely seamless. Rodriguez singles out the strong tracking and click-to-scan functionality, stating that the Leo is easy to use and you can "let the device do the work" without needing to do any additional setup and still get "pretty impressive results."
Compared to the photos the company previously used for marketing, the accurately captured, often vividly colored 3D models now bring a whole new perspective to customers.
"Using 3D scanning with the Leo device, we can capture our products knowing that the size and proportions are 100% accurate," said Rodriguez. "Sometimes when you look at the results, you think 'this is too big or too wide.' Our models provide accurate information on everything from exterior dimensions to pillow size.”
"Showing clients what their room will look like helps them plan where to put things. It may not seem important, but to the right person, proportions can be crucial."
Photorealistic digital furniture
In the beginning, one of the main challenges faced by the Rooms To Go team was scanning objects from all angles and replicating the textures of dark, shiny or soft surfaces.
To get full 3D scans, they now turn many objects upside down, lifting them onto chairs or boxes to capture all the hidden parts that light doesn't normally reach. When it comes to textures, the company has a team of 3D artists who apply modifiers to hard-to-duplicate surfaces using Autodesk 3ds Max rendering software.
Before the models reach this stage, they are filmed and processed in Artec Studio . Using autopilot features to automate workflow, one-click scan merging and HD mode to increase resolution, the company takes less than five minutes to complete each detailed scan.
"We want everything we model to replicate the image from the photo studio, so when you look at them, you can't tell which one is real," Rodriguez added. "The precision we achieve with 3D scanning helps our artists tremendously and ensures that this is achieved."
Finally, Rodríguez points out that reviewing interiors with realistic furniture models yields insights that can halve the duration of projects – making digitization more than cost-effective.
"We've Only Scratched the Surface"
Currently, Rooms To Go is focusing on making their models look as close to real pieces of furniture as possible, as well as expanding their database. They have already digitized thousands of collections, many of which contain between seven and twelve pieces. Rodriguez estimates they've exceeded 12,000 renders and 3,000 models, and they haven't even started separating upholstery or other types of products yet.
However, the company's 3D visualization team began to consider new ways of using 3D scanning to digitize and sell products. At first, they thought about scanning entire rooms and placing furniture in them virtually, but temporarily shelved that idea. They are now considering expanding their arsenal to tackle more ambitious projects.
"We'll continue to scan furniture with an eye toward expansion, that's for sure," added Tammy Beach, 3D visualization manager at Rooms To Go . "Looking forward, we're looking at adding more scanners to what we're currently using. We're not there yet, but we hope to be soon."
"Our furniture catalog is huge. We've literally just scratched the surface of what we can achieve with Artec 3D scanning."