E-commerce and Web3D for involving the customer in the design process : The case of a gates 3D configurator

Abstract

This paper aims to show to what extent the Web3D is an advantage for Living Lab paradigm. From this viewpoint, we present various applications of online ecommerce or using the Web3D. A state of the art on these existing solutions enabled us to select the most suitable functionalities and properties for designing a gates 3D configurator. This tool has been evaluated by 27 participants. The results of this evaluation show that the particular 3-dimensional visualization of the object is an advantage for the sale, because a single image does not usually allow user to imagine the product in its environment. The use of Web3D for e-commerce gives the consumer a strong capacity to get involved in the design process. This point is a first answer to a research question on the role and definition of Living Labs.