A French startup, AniML, has introduced Doly, an innovative 3D capture app designed to simplify the creation of professional product videos using just an iPhone. This breakthrough technology aims to revolutionize how e-commerce businesses and content creators generate engaging product visuals.
Transforming 3D Video Production
AniML’s new app, Doly, is set to become a game-changer for online retailers and marketers. It allows users to generate 3D models of their products and transform them into high-quality videos directly from their smartphones. The app targets sellers on online marketplaces and creators of direct-to-consumer ads, who can now produce polished videos without the need for extensive technical expertise or costly video production equipment.
Simplifying the 3D Capture Process
Creating 3D models and videos has traditionally been a complex and time-consuming process. However, AniML’s team has dedicated their efforts to making this technology accessible to a wider audience. By integrating 3D capture into a user-friendly iPhone app, they aim to bring this advanced capability to the mainstream market.
The process is straightforward: users simply point their phone cameras at the product and move around it to capture the item in 3D. The app then captures a series of still images, which are sent to the cloud. AniML employs a reconstruction pipeline using Gaussian splatting—a sophisticated AI technique—to convert these images into realistic 3D models.
Cutting-Edge Technology
Gaussian splatting represents a significant advancement in the 3D modeling field. Traditional 3D models involve creating a collection of points in 3D space, overlaid with 2D textures and lighting effects. Gaussian splatting, however, estimates a 3D point cloud from 2D images using a pre-trained AI model, offering a more streamlined and efficient rendering process.
AniML’s co-founder and CEO, Rémi Rousseau, explained the technological inspiration behind Doly: “Our starting point was a technological finding: AI had just arrived in the 3D world. So people at Facebook, but even more at Google, were doing research and wrote a fairly important research paper on something called NeRF. It’s a new paradigm in which you try to reconstruct 3D by letting machine learning do the job.” While Gaussian splatting isn’t exactly the same as NeRF, it builds upon similar principles.
Practical Applications for E-commerce
Recognizing the potential impact of their technology, AniML focused on e-commerce as the primary use case for Doly. After capturing a 3D model, users can select from a library of templates to integrate their product into various 3D scenes. These range from simple rotations against plain backgrounds to more dynamic marketing setups featuring different camera angles.
Once satisfied with the result, users can purchase and download the video directly from the app, ready for use in online listings and promotional campaigns.
Experienced Founders and Investor Backing
AniML’s leadership brings a wealth of experience in 3D technology and virtual reality. Rousseau previously founded two VR companies, including Mimesys, which was acquired by Magic Leap in 2019. His co-founder, Pierre Pontevia, has a history of successful ventures, having sold companies to Autodesk and Unity.
The startup has raised $2 million in seed funding, led by Adjacent. Additional investments came from AI Grant, Kima Ventures, and several angel investors, including Julien Chaumond from Hugging Face; Nicolas Steegman and François Lagunas of Stupeflix; Alban Denoyel of Sketchfab; Bertrand Schmitt; Thibaud Elziere; and Vincent Nallatamby. Bpifrance also contributed a portion of the funding through a grant.
Looking Ahead
The launch of Doly presents an exciting opportunity for big brands, second-hand retailers, and other e-commerce professionals to embrace 3D-rendered videos for their campaigns and product listings. With artificial intelligence making professional-grade video creation more accessible, the need for expensive recording studios may soon be a thing of the past.
For more information and to explore the possibilities of 3D product video creation, visit the AniML website.
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