Marshalls AR Paving Visualiser

AR asset catalog.

Marshalls wanted to raise the bar with their online web catalogue and having previously seen our Augmented Reality webstore, they enquired about the possibilities of an online 3D product library that customers could use to access and view AR on any device.

Marshalls saw huge potential in this tech, they distribute tens of thousands of samples to customers each year which is both costly and exceptionally wasteful, as 99% of them will be thrown in the bin once evaluated. Implementing an AR solution would allow them to reduce their carbon footprint by not sending out as many samples and also improve their customer service experience, by giving instant access to thousands of simulated products through an online 3D sample library.

Engineering a scan-to-AR solution.

After researching and testing out the best options for accurately digitising paving products we invested in a new state-of-the-art photogrammetry rig, capable of perfectly capturing the finest of details.

We created a future-proof library of 3D paving assets by scanning every product at high resolution. To make them AR-ready, it was essential to optimise the 3D mesh for use with WebGL and adjust textures for colour accuracy. With 1200+ items to scan and process, our development team automated many of the procedures to make the timescales achievable.

We’ve detailed this scan-to-AR end-to-end process in our digital asset capture R&D page.

Augmented Reality without the app.

With AR-ready 3D created, the Marshalls web developer team could simply add the visualiser to their website product pages alongside the standard imagery.

The visualiser works on all browsers and devices, displaying paving in a 3D viewer on desktop PC and laptops. Mobile devices and tablets can enjoy a more immersive experience with the built-in camera allowing for AR from the webpage, with no apps or downloads required.