Create Stunning 3D Product Videos with Your iPhone Using Doly

AniML, a French startup, has introduced a groundbreaking 3D capture app called Doly, aiming to revolutionize product video creation much like Photoroom does for images. If you're selling sneakers on an online marketplace or crafting Instagram ads for your direct-to-consumer products, Doly facilitates the generation of 3D models using just your phone, transforming them into high-quality product videos.

Creating videos is challenging, but generating 3D models presents even greater hurdles. That's why AniML's team emphasizes ease of use, with the goal of making 3D capture widely accessible through an iPhone app.

Here’s how 3D capture works with Doly: Users simply point their phone's camera at a product and move around it to capture the item in 3D. The app collects still images and uploads them to the cloud. AniML has developed a unique reconstruction pipeline utilizing a technique known as Gaussian splatting to convert these images into lifelike 3D models.

Traditionally, 3D models are crafted from a series of points in 3D space, overlayed with 2D textures and lighting effects. Gaussian splatting revolutionizes this process, estimating a 3D point cloud from 2D images through a pre-trained AI model.

“Our journey began with a significant technological discovery: AI has breached the 3D sphere. Research at Facebook and particularly at Google led to pivotal advancements,” explains AniML co-founder and CEO Rémi Rousseau. “The emergence of methods like NeRF redefined how 3D environments can be reconstructed using machine learning.”

“You're transitioning from polygon-based models to neural-based representations,” he adds. Although Gaussian splatting is not synonymous with NeRF, it is derived from this innovative 3D modeling technology.

With the technical groundwork laid, AniML sought engaging use cases to attract users from the outset. E-commerce businesses emerged as a prime candidate for a 3D model creation tool.

What additional features does the app provide? After capturing a 3D model, Doly users can explore a library of templates for their product display. Options range from a simple 3D rotation against a plain background to more dynamic marketing scenes, such as a camera slowly circling the object with varying angles.

If a user is pleased with the outcome, they can purchase the video directly from the app for use across various platforms.

Rousseau has an impressive background, having previously founded two VR companies, including Mimesys, which was acquired by Magic Leap in 2019. His co-founder, Pierre Pontevia, also comes with a strong track record, previously selling a company to 3D tools leader Autodesk and another to Unity, a major 3D content development platform.

To date, AniML has secured $2 million in funding, with Adjacent leading the seed round. The startup participated in AI Grant, the accelerator led by Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. Additional investors include Kima Ventures and various angel investors such as Julien Chaumond from Hugging Face, Nicolas Steegmann and François Lagunas, founders of Stupeflix, Alban Denoyel of Sketchfab, as well as Bertrand Schmitt, Thibaud Elziere, and Vincent Nallatamby. Bpifrance also contributed through a grant.

It will be fascinating to observe whether major brands, secondhand resellers, and other e-commerce players adopt 3D-rendered videos for their marketing campaigns and online listings. The emergence of Doly suggests that compelling product visuals may soon be attainable without the need for a professional video recording studio, all thanks to advancements in artificial intelligence.

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