AI-Powered Innovation: adidas and Covision Media Transform 3D Content Creation

TL;DR:

  • Covision Media, with the support of NVIDIA RTX and AI technology, is revolutionizing 3D scanning and content creation.
  • Their AI-based 3D scanners enable the creation of realistic digital twins of various products.
  • adidas and NUREG are among the early adopters, leveraging Covision’s technology for e-commerce content production.
  • Covision’s technology offers precise lighting measurement and neural radiance fields for superior 3D model quality.
  • adidas has achieved significant time and cost efficiencies while enhancing its online platforms using Covision’s 3D scans.
  • Covision’s plans include integrating additional NVIDIA products and custom NeRF implementations.

Main AI News:

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce and digital marketing, the demand for high-quality 3D content is skyrocketing. Yet, the traditional methods of creating photorealistic 3D scans can be painstakingly slow, often taking hours or even days to complete. These methods also often fall short of delivering the level of realism required for a wide range of applications.

Enter Covision Media, an innovative Italy-based startup that is harnessing the power of AI and NVIDIA RTX technology to revolutionize 3D scanning and content creation. Covision Media has developed cutting-edge AI-based 3D scanners that enable users to effortlessly create digital twins of various products, from footwear and eyeglasses to sports equipment and household items. As a member of NVIDIA Inception, a program offering startups access to cutting-edge resources and technologies, Covision Media is at the forefront of this transformative industry.

Covision’s technology leverages NVIDIA RTX, enabling users to generate high-quality, detailed, and photorealistic 3D models. But the innovation doesn’t stop there. Covision Media employs neural radiance fields (NeRFs) to further enhance the quality of 3D models, addressing challenges such as accurate lighting, reflections, and transparent surfaces.

One of the early adopters of Covision Media’s game-changing 3D scanning technology is adidas, a global leader in sports and lifestyle wear. Partnering with NUREG, a content creation studio, adidas has embraced Covision Media’s technology to streamline and scale its e-commerce content production.

Covision’s 3D scanners, seamlessly integrated with NVIDIA RTX A5000 and RTX A6000 GPUs, offer unmatched ray-tracing performance and formidable AI capabilities. This remarkable combination allows Covision to precisely measure lighting conditions, enabling users to place their scanned products in any virtual environment with unparalleled accuracy. Furthermore, Covision harnesses NVIDIA’s software infrastructure to develop state-of-the-art AI solutions, particularly in the realm of neural texture manipulation.

Dr. Burkhard Güssefeld, the tech lead at Covision Media, emphasizes the critical role of NVIDIA RTX GPUs in achieving the level of precision and performance required for their technology. He notes that NVIDIA’s hardware and software capabilities are indispensable for pushing the boundaries of their innovative solutions.

Covision’s technology also unlocks the potential for fully relightable 3D models, giving users the ability to adjust and manipulate lighting within the scene. Additionally, the software allows for the merging of partial scans to create comprehensive 360-degree product scans, ideal for extended reality (XR) environments.

The heart of Covision’s technology lies in computer vision and machine learning. Their proficiency in NeRFs has enabled them to seamlessly integrate this technology into existing pipelines, overcoming traditional challenges like transparencies and reflections. This integration significantly reduces post-processing work, ensuring high-quality results with efficiency.

Franz Tschimben, CEO of Covision Media, underscores the company’s commitment to delivering the highest quality assets for mass production while simultaneously helping customers add value and reduce costs. He envisions their scanning device playing a pivotal role in creating high-quality 3D assets for spatial computing devices and mixed reality headsets, including those by Apple and Meta.

Covision is not resting on its laurels; they are actively exploring the integration of additional NVIDIA products and research projects into their solutions. Their pursuit of excellence includes leveraging Nvdiffrast for high-performance differentiable rendering and Tiny CUDA as a fast neural network framework. Moreover, the team is deploying a custom NeRF implementation into their system, making the most of NVIDIA’s Instant-NGP APIs.

In the world of fashion and sports, adidas is at the forefront of embracing Covision Media’s technology. Thousands of items are scanned each year using Covision’s technology, enhancing adidas’ online platforms and apps. The 3D models have revolutionized adidas’ Virtual Try-On feature, enabling customers to virtually test shoes before making a purchase. Additionally, these 3D models are used to automatically generate 2D virtual product photos and videos, eliminating the need for traditional product photography.

According to adidas, Covision’s scanning technology represents a quantum leap in quality while streamlining their production processes. By shifting from traditional content production methods to computer-generated content, adidas has experienced significant time and cost efficiencies.

To support the scaling of 3D asset production, adidas relies on Covision’s technology and collaborates closely with partners like NUREG. This partnership encompasses logistics, styling, scanning, and the provision of software tools, ensuring scalable 3D workflows for thousands of assets annually.

Tommy Lenssen, head of the adidas team at NUREG, praises the unmatched quality and reliability of Covision’s 3D scans. He emphasizes how these scans empower their global team of specialists, allowing for versatile applications across the board. The success of their post-production platform enables lean collaboration and stringent quality control.

In post-production workflows, Covision and NUREG collaborate with The Kow Company, a leading image and video editing firm catering to businesses worldwide.

For those looking to embrace this groundbreaking technology, Covision Media offers 3D scanners for purchase, allowing content creation studios to kickstart their production. Alternatively, products can be scanned through Covision’s partner networks in Europe or North America.

Source: NVIDIA Corporation

Conclusion:

The collaboration between Covision Media and adidas, powered by AI and NVIDIA RTX technology, is reshaping the 3D content creation landscape. Businesses in the e-commerce and digital marketing sectors should take note, as this innovation promises to streamline production, enhance quality, and drive cost savings in the highly competitive world of visual content. Keeping an eye on further developments in this space is essential for staying ahead in the market.

Source