PARIS — Image and media producer CLX Europe is prepping to open a 3D content creation studio on the outskirts of Paris. The Italy-based company is joined by Covision Media, using their scanning technology.

The space will open its doors in February, and enable brands to create realistic, moveable photos for e-commerce, social media, virtual try-ons and interactive campaigns.

CLX Europe has worked with fashion houses including Bottega Veneta, Prada, Valentino, Versace and other luxury brands on media creation and product experience, while Covision has worked with Inditex’s Zara and Adidas, among other retailers.

The Covision technology takes 15,000 images in eight minutes, then uses non-generative AI to compress the images into one model for CLX’s post-production. The end result is what the team calls a “digital twin” (not to be confused with NFT digital twins) because it is an exact replica of the physical object that can be manipulated on the screen.

It works well on things like handbags that tend to look flat with traditional photography, and can show how a bag hangs, folds or wrinkles with movement.

“It’s a key element of future online shopping,” said Covision Media chief executive officer Franz Tschimben. “We’re working with a lot of premium and luxury brands in the EMEA market, and they tell us they want life-like rendition.”

The team also created a measurement device that indicates the real dimensions of a product. For example, virtual try-on with shoes would be able to scale to your shoe size or someone could see how a bracelet would fall on their wrist.

“Consumers are saying, ‘I’m happy to spend my money directly online without seeing the product if I can get that rich experience,’” said CLX Europe CEO Scott Houchin. The items won’t look too perfect or flat, and will include shading and dimpling. The combination of the two companies’ strengths of imaging and production “together allows that realism to happen.”

“3D fulfills a lot of different touch points in the market,” said Tschimben. “You’re not just looking at a picture, but you really get a feeling about a product.”

The 10,000-square-foot Paris studio will be catered toward fashion and luxury brands headquartered here.

“The market is absolutely ready for this,” said Tschimben. Companies have been dabbling in 3D imaging for a few years, especially since omnichannel increased in importance during the pandemic, but now seem ready to fully dive in. “There really seems to be an inflection point in the last 12 months with just so many requests from brands. This year has been just exploding, which means that much of the [brand] infrastructure is ready.”

Their client data indicates that the use of 3D images boosts sales. “The engagement boost [is] 80 percent, in comparison to a page that doesn’t have the asset visualized,” added head of CGI Boris Rodegher. It also works well on mobile and appeals to the youth customer.

The opening in Paris will allow luxury brands to elevate their product experience, claimed Houchin.

Luxury brands “are trying to create that rich experience. The number-one driving force is that product is the hero,” said Houchin. “Paris is where the brands live, these are iconic brands and iconic products, and they can’t be anything less than that from a digital perspective.”

The technology can also be used at the design stage to create prototypes, textile and color variants, or assist in managing stock and inventory, a key brand need as they seek to increase “efficiency, speed and sustainability in the design process,” Tschimben added.