With 3D virtualization, Baccarat now transmits its share of dreams via the digital tool

Up until about ten years ago, the designers of the illustrious crystal house Baccarat used to draw their incredible chandeliers by hand. Since then, 3D technology has replaced the pencil in design offices.

Today, a new revolution is taking place in this institution born more than 150 years ago: 3D virtualization and configuration. Sinse personalization has always been a strong component of Baccarat’s DNA, the company wanted to simplify access to this experience and enrich it. A successful gamble with the complicity.

Now in stores, from a simple iPad, Baccarat salespeople are able to work with their customers to design truly unique chandeliers in just a few clicks.

Excellence, the guiding thread of an ambitious digital project

The products designed by Baccarat are real little treasures. Thought out in the smallest detail, sometimes composed of thousands of pieces and crystals, they are appreciated by aesthetes all over the world.

The personalization of these jewels is a strong trend at Baccarat, which has recorded a 20% increase in this type of demand in stores, especially for chandeliers.

Our obsession in launching this project was aimed to succeed in transcribing the emotions of an exceptional product through the digital medium. This is a real feat for a product that offers several million possibilities for personalisation, says Sophie Cotelle, Director of the Baccarat collection

These requests used to be handled by in-store sales consultants. On simple paper reproductions, they manually specified the customer’s personalization expectations. This method is nevertheless approximate. Above all, it does not allow to really project oneself into the final object.

This is why the House of Baccarat wanted to increase this co-creative experience with the help of our digital tool. Its requirement is to obtain a virtual rendering of the chandeliers of extreme quality, echoing the brand’s image of excellence.

Behind the scenes of an exceptional virtualization process

Our teams have immersed ourselves in the company’s know-how to understand the product and its many specificities. Our main challenge was to obtain, on a virtual projection, the same sensation as if we were looking at a real Baccarat chandelier. We had to be able to convey the incredible quality of the crystals, which is unique to the brand. Especially since the crystal has the particularity of reflecting light over a very wide spectrum.

By “manipulating” the object on the screen, by zooming in, these infinite reflections had to be visible and coherent, but above all they had to evolve in real time! For this, we worked in close collaboration with the photographers of the crystal factory, in order to understand how they themselves managed to return this singularity to the image.

Previously, when you entered a Baccarat boutique, you did not have the opportunity to see all of our products. Today, we give our customers this ability to virtualize and design their own chandelier," says Sophie Cotelle.

Another difficulty of this project was to simulate objects of great density and complexity. The size of the chandeliers, in fact, can reach several meters long and wide, thus integrating thousands of pieces (crystals, balusters, decorative pieces, lamps, arms, cups…), all individually customizable!

Unique features for total immersion

To simplify the creation of a custom chandelier in the shop, we have introduced into the tool the possibility of processing the pieces in batches (several crystals together, two arms at the same time, etc.). Not only does this feature speed up the customization of the chandelier, but it also ensures consistency with the original design, i.e. without distorting the artist’s work. In just a few clicks, the customer makes his choices, while benefiting from the seller’s enlightened advice.

What’s incredible about Hapticmedia’s technology is that we’ve managed to make people forget about the screen and only see the chandelier as if it were manufactured in our workshops and installed at our customer’s own homes," enthuses Sophie Cotelle.

For Baccarat, we have also integrated an Augmented Reality system that allows the chandelier to be projected into the environment. A few simple steps are all the seller needs to integrate the object into the visual of a room, while perfectly respecting its dimensions and the dimensions of the space for a very immersive rendering. This projection contributes to accelerate the decision making of a potential buyer.

3D virtualization for chandeliers is currently deployed in the group’s 88 stores worldwide. The House of Baccarat is already thinking about applying it to other product lines in the coming months.