3D Visualization User Story

09/22/2022

Clarissa Leithiger

Case Studies
Blog

eQ-3, the manufacturer of Homematic IP, was looking for innovative, attractive ways to present its smart home products online. They teamed up with rooom to create 3D product visualizations that fit seamlessly into their web design. Read the full article to learn how 3D product visualizations boost conversion with an interactive customer experience. The future is smart—at home and virtually.

Marketing smart products the smart way

Even before the pandemic, many enterprises had started exploring immersive digital user experiences that go far beyond conventional web design. The past two years have seen a major trend towards 3D visualizations and the metaverse, as more and more companies discover the opportunities that these technologies offer.

Based in Germany, eQ-3 is the creator of the smart home system Homematic IP. As Europe’s market leader for whole-home systems, eQ-3 offers the largest portfolio on the smart-home market, with over 200 products. Their solutions cover every aspect of modern living, from indoor climate control, to lighting, shading, access, security and weather sensors.

To market its smart-home solutions, eQ-3 needed an innovative, attractive way to present their products online. They became an early adopter of 3D product visualizations because, they could see that this technology has the power to create a lifelike, interactive product experience. And by teaming up with rooom, they found the right partner to help bring their vision to life.

What are 3D visualizations?

3D visualizations enable companies to give their customers a lifelike preview of what it’s like to use a product. They bring the product to life in virtual space. Augmented reality (AR) technologies enable customers to fully immerse themselves in a virtual experience of the product. They superimpose a computer-generated image (such as a 3D model of the product) onto a real-world image captured by the customer’s smartphone or special glasses. This enables the customer to share the product, take it with them and even test it to scale in their own home. The 3D visualization enables customers to immediately experience what the product looks like, making complex products much easier to understand.

Why 3D product visualizations?

Interactive 3D products give our customers a user-centric experience on our website and reflect our forward-thinking image.
Marketing Homematic IP

In the past, companies saw their websites merely as a channel for providing information about their products and services. Today, 3D visualization opens up new possibilities for visual storytelling. It gives users the opportunity to interact with products. Info points within the visualization invite the user to learn more about the product and take it for a spin.

Visualizations also encourage users to spend more time on your website. This results in longer page views, which makes your website more likely to rank higher in search engine results. When people spend a long time interacting with your visualization, it sends a signal that your site is popular with people who are searching for products like yours.

What do the statistics say?

Up to twice as many conversions compared to passive content
Up to five times more views
93% effectiveness in informing customers comparedto 70% for static content

Source: outgrow.co/blog/statistics-interactive-content

While many people associate 3D and metaverse technologies with virtual events, they are now widely seen as a powerful tool for driving marketing, conversion and sales.

Homematic IP’s vision

eQ-3 came to rooom with the challenge of creating a product overview for Homematic IP that would include multiple product photos presented side by side. The pandemic had caused the project to be temporarily delayed, but now the smart-home experts at eQ-3 were ready to finally bring their vision to life.

In recent years, sustainability and climate protection have become a growing priority for many consumers, creating stronger interest in smart-home technologies. Homematic IP gives customers the best of both worlds: future-proof technologies that protect the environment while also saving money.

To fulfill eQ-3’s vision and optimally address their forward-thinking, tech-savvy target group, 3D product visualization was the obvious choice. eQ-3 was already using photos to create a 360° product view on their website. By upgrading to a 3D product viewer from rooom, they made their site even more interactive. The virtual 3D models give users the ability to zoom in on even the finest detail of the products.

Implementation with 3D technology

3D Rendering Homematic thermostat — 3D rendering of “Evo”, the smart radiator thermostat from Homematic IP

Based on existing 3D data, rooom used rooomProducts to create highly detailed 3D models of the products. Because some parts of the products are made of glass, it took great precision to ensure that these would be clearly visible in virtual space. rooom also created attractive Renderings to be used both online and in print media.

rooom integrated a special feature known as whitelisting, which prevents misuse by ensuring that the 3D Product Viewer can only be installed on approved websites. eQ-3 added additional information to the 3D Viewer using the rooom content management system.

The user interface of the 3D Viewer can also be easily customized. For example, control elements can be faded in and out and customized to match the corporate identity. This gives eQ-3 the ability to modify details on their own, such as the buttons for the Homematic IP products.

Product Editor Homematic — Product Editor: The rooomProducts CMS

The result: Experiencing award-winning products virtually

The result is a wide range of 3D models presented on a transparent background alongside texts and videos, all designed to inform customers about the products. The models fit seamlessly into the website’s design, creating an organic virtual space. The Homematic IP products are sold by specialist retailers who have also been impressed by the 3D models. Evo, the radiator thermostat from Homematic IP won the Red Dot Design Award in 2021. Thanks to 3D product visualization, eQ-3 now has the ideal medium for presenting this renowned, innovative product to the public.

In the future, eQ-3 intends to continue to expand its 3D product portfolio and may also present 3D models as part of its mobile display at trade fairs. “It's always good to try new things,” a spokesperson from eQ-3 says.

3D Website integration Homematic — The 3D Product Viewer is seamlessly embedded into the Homematic IP product page.

For a company that is on a mission to bring homes into the future, virtual space is a powerful tool. The metaverse inparticular opens countless opportunitiesfor making marketing strategies, sales, education, collaboration, events and entertainment more sustainable by creating experiences that transcend the boundaries of physical space. The future is smart — at home and virtually.