Virtual Realities

When Volvo developed a video of its Concept You car introduced at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show, the company didn't need to wait until the car was built.

Instead, it produced a movie with technology from Autodesk using a virtual car. The use of computer-generated images by the automotive sector is not new. But the technologies are becoming so sophisticated that car companies are relying more on virtual cars to substitute for physical prototypes in marketing, allowing them to cut significantly the time it takes to begin publicizing a vehicle. The technologies give potential customers a chance to touch and interact virtually with numerous versions of a vehicle before it's built.

It used to be that the virtual models weren't convincing, but "recent advances in CGI make it more photorealistic" so it's often impossible to tell the difference between a model and the real thing, said Joanne Stansberry, who has managed computer-generated imagery at Chevrolet.

Alexander Edwards, president of the automotive division of Strategic Vision, a consulting and research company in San Diego, said: "Every car company is looking at these types of technologies" and how they'll be used in the future.

"It really is going to be an inexpensive way to better understand consumer choices and start preliminary ad campaigns," he said.

The 3D images are becoming the focus of events -- everything from concerts to auto shows -- with the intent to create buzz and allow customers to envision a car that's right for them. Computer-generated graphics also give marketers access to the car as soon as it's designed.

There are a variety of technologies. In one instance, a consumer puts on glasses, like the type you would use to watch a 3D movie, and looks at an open space, only to see a car appear before him. In another case, a touch screen allows you to take your finger, select options and see how the car moves in a real-world setting. In another case, it involves merely watching a video, but the 3D images are so precise that it seems real.

Automotive spending on mainstream product life cycle management, which includes mechanical computer-aided design, increased 20.1 percent from $3.49 billion in 2008 to $4.19 billion in 2011, according to CIMdata Inc., a consulting company.

Stan Przybylinski, CIMdata's research director, says that increase in spending is particularly significant because investments were made during a period of economic downturn.

At a June 1 demonstration of its 3D visualization technologies in Detroit, RTT Inc. showcased a giant touch screen that it developed for the Chevrolet Sonic using its proprietary software. A potential customer can select various features, everything from paint color, to trim to interior material -- even the external physical environment of, say, the mountains or the ocean -- to see how the car would look in real form.

Chevrolet showed the technology at four concerts between October 2011 and May 2012, and it could appear at future events. Ludwig Fuchs, co-founder of RTT, said the touch screen also gives dealers the opportunity to establish outlets in urban centers where people shop. There may be only one car in the dealership, "but they have a full range available ready to show on big screens," Fuchs said.

RTT created a "virtual vehicle garage" for Chevrolet using CAD to develop a 3D math model of the interior, exterior and powertrain that any designer can access immediately. Stansberry said reusing digital models in GM's global marketing portfolio creates "huge savings in both money and time."

Brett Dodson, computer-generated imagery manager for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, Chevrolet's ad agency, said: "We see an ever-increasing application of this process globally. With computer-generated imagery, every single iteration of a vehicle can be ordered at the push of a button."

Volkswagen is the first automaker to use a technology developed by Mackevision Corp. called "picture shooter." Using a virtual camera, creative directors can create thousands of images.

A comparison slider allows the creative director to see two different versions of the ad side-by-side. This area "is starting to explode" among automotive clients, who account for 70 percent of the company's business, said Heiko Wenczel, Mackevision USA's president.

Charlie Taylor, manager of digital marketing for Volkswagen of America Inc., said that in 2005, a photo shoot with a fully retouched image could run $7,000 to $10,000. Today, computer-generated images can create the same product for 5 percent of that cost, or about $350 to $500.

"It's definitely a trend," he said.

But Taylor expects to see fewer computer-generated images in broadcast ads. VW sees itself as a "human" brand that prefers to feature people in its commercials, while computer-generated imagery, at least for now, can't replace people.

Matthew Pollock, executive integrated producer of digital for Deutsch LA, one of VW's ad agencies, says picture shooter opens up creative possibilities in being able to display so many variations of a car. Also, because it is inexpensive, marketers can customize materials even for lower priority projects.

The virtual technology also is being applied to online shopping. Evox Images, which provides images for 22,000 dealership Web sites, recently launched technology that allows more refined images of cars.

David Falstrup, the company's CEO, said this will move the shopping experience even more "from the lot to the iPad, iPhone or computer." He expects many dealers to adopt this in the next year.

Peter Sealey, adjunct professor of marketing at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, Calif., and a self-described car enthusiast, said such advancements are long overdue.

In the past 18 months he purchased a Rolls-Royce Ghost, a Mercedes-Benz ML350, a Bentley Continental GT convertible and a BMW X3 and felt the online technology was rudimentary: "It's primitive what you have to go through to visualize what you're buying on the Web."

Virtual cars are also beginning to be used in customer clinics, where customers can interact with precise 3D cars online before prototypes are built. Technology developed by Dassault Systemes allows people to provide early feedback on various versions of a car online. This information can then be used in marketing and product planning, said Phil Borchard, client executive for Dassault's Catia product line.

Strategic Vision's Edwards said the ability to involve a consumer in designing a vehicle "entices customers to think 'I've made this vehicle. It really is for me.' As real examples are put into the hands of customers, it can move interest in a car into consideration."

But CIMdata's Przybylinski said there is a downside to relying too much on virtual models. "You can't duplicate all the real aspects, so you have to understand the tool's limitations," he said.

He said there's a danger that automotive marketers could get overconfident and "stop doing the due diligence they need to do" when marketing a car to ensure the real and virtual agree.