3D Visualization: definition, use cases and benefits with real world case studies! (2025 update)

By Yahong Zhang , Ritesh Patil , Sabrina KHADIVI | July 14, 2019

visualization 3d visualization 3d visualization software architectural visualization visualization software 3d visualization tools

This article was updated in October 2024 by Sabrina KHADIVI.

What is 3D Visualization?

3D visualization refers to the process where graphical content is created using 3D software. Similar terms include:

3D rendering
Excellent computer-generated imagery (CGI)
3D graphics and so on

Over recent years, this technology has gained popularity and evolved into one of the most high-quality digital content to showcase products. This digital innovation is being used in many industries, and in this article you will know more about the definition, applications, benefits, different softwares and the future of this digital innovation.

Fred is using this technology to better present the product and offer online customization to clients. Solution created by Hapticmedia.

Where is 3D visualization used?

As mentioned earlier, this technology is implemented in many industries to create excellent graphic content including images, diagrams and animations that contribute to better communication or a more real-life digital experience. Here are the top three industries that embrace these techniques.

1. Product design, manufacture and presentation

3D visualization serves as the interface for digital twin data, which is why it is a great tool to demonstrate either a prototype or a finished product to stakeholders. Engineering wise it helps developers to visualize the to-be product in a real environment and gather data about potential flaws and risks so that they could improve the developing process by coming up with new designs and head for technological innovations.

Modern marketing requires modern technologies, and what better than 3D product presentation to increase your engagement and conversion rates. This innovation has the potential to make the product stand out. Comparatively, it is much easier to create demonstration of actual products & items from a 3-dimensional format than shooting a ton of photos.

Virtual Photography from a 3D Visualization of a watch by Hapticmedia

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2. Architecture and interior design

This digital innovation software plays a significant role in architecture and interior design by making the working process in this sector more rapid and effective.

Collaborative and digital engineering, fast manufacture of constructing elements, diminishing the errors during the entire process, presentation and maintenance of projects – everything will be conceivable with this technology.

Nowadays, clients show eagerness in having a glimpse at the design of their project even before the work starts. In this case, it provides an opportunity for customers to see the layout of the building, interior and exterior designs, lighting, texture and geographic situations even before completion of the development process.

3. Media and entertainment

This technology provides the ability to create stunning digital content in fields such as games, movies, advertisements and music videos. Thanks to this tool artists are capable of creating realistic characters using imagination.

Apart from these sectors, this digital innovation is even used in electronics, education institutions, printing and publishing industry, medical applications and diagnostic planning and so on.

3D Visualization for marketing purposes

According to scientists, the human brain processes visuals about 60,000 times faster than texts and in fact, 80% of all information that our brain processes is visual.

Moreover, in their book e-Learning and the Science of Instruction, Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard E. Mayer conclude that, when text-based instructions were accompanied by graphics, students’ test performances were improved by a median amount of 89%.

3D visualization of a watch by Hapticmedia

Apart from that, we also gain advantages from being capable to observe the product from every angle and mark all the product benefits:

Better understanding of the product
Simplifies customization in Made-to-Order products
Enhanced customer experience

Marketers are supposed to, thus, understand the importance of visuals in attracting, engaging, persuading and, of course, converting the target and employ it in their marketing strategy. Here is why and how:

3D visualization offers better product presentation in a lighter, faster and safer way

Interactive and immerse product presentation in 3D

It is usually more productive to showcase your designs using visuals that are as interactive as possible. This is the best way to convey your ideas than photo realistic renderings, which requires much more inputs and is much less flexible.

Virtual Photography: Get rid of a ton of images to offer a better UX

As a marketer, you know that product shootings involve significant efforts, logistical resources, and time and money. 3D Virtual Photography is 6x more cost-effective for online product imagery, meaning that this technological innovation is a necessity on different levels.

Low costs and sustainable compared to tons of photos

With the improvement in technology, 3D visualization has now become easily accessible to most companies willing to offer a seamless shopping experience to customers. Instead of multiple pictures that take a long time to load and only cover several angles of the item, 3D visuals are able to offer a 360 degree view of the product, and are easy to modify along the way due to its nature.

Computer generated imagery can be modified as product features change and can be easily turned into simulations at a large volume, which meant that different versions of products could be added, removed or updated through software without taking tons of photos.

Moreover, cloud solutions improve security and page speed.

When done correctly, these digital innovations are a significantly lighter compared to standard images, as they are only based a few lines of codes, without images, without plugins.

Smooth and agile working flows for engineers, developers and marketers

For example, with 3D architectural visualization, customers are able to detect any problems or flaws from the early stages. If the client does not like the layout or design of a particular project, developers can make changes easily at the visualization stage before the construction.

Future of 3D visualization: a huge global market

For a decade now, it has been working as a catalyst in many domains, especially architecture, manufacturing, product design& modeling and media & entertainment.

These industries are constantly growing, so are their demands. People want to make sure their imagination takes the perfect shape in reality and customers demand to see the final result at the early stages of a project.

In the coming years, this digital innovation is going to be more involved in the interior and architectural industry. It will change the way houses are built today, make the whole process of designing and manufacturing more transparent, help the architects spot the plausible errors, assist in predictive maintenance and trigger collaborative digital and faster engineering. Also, it improves customer satisfaction with a 3D virtual model of the end result.

The 3D visualization market will likely reach nearly USD 4366.21 million by 2027

Geographically, when you look on the basis of regions, North America and Europe are leading in this particular sector, followed by Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Future use cases

As mentioned above, there are already a good number of use cases. Here are a few more which are likely to dominate in different industries in the future.

Media & Advertising

Expectations are evolving with technological innovations. In the advertising industry, people want to have a glimpse of the product even before it is launched. That’s when 3D visualisation comes into the space.

This technology has been constantly influencing the media and advertising industry with its interactive 3D models and virtual images of the products. Moreover, it gives a more immersive feel to audience and catalysts the product sales. The expected ad spending in the digital advertising market is forecast to reach €676.8 billion in 2024.

3D Animation

Animation and 3D visualization work in harmony, we all love animation and some of our favourite characters are created by 3D visualisation. In the coming years, 3D visualisation will be extensively used as it quickens the process and saves a lot of pennies for the producers.

The global animation industry is expected to reach $779.73 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 6.8% from 2023 to 2032, paving the way for the growth of 3D visualization.

3D Printing

Although this particular sector is nascent, it is one of the fastest growing ones under the purview of 3D visualisation, which plays a major role in the prosthetic design and manufacturing industry.

In the development process, the concepts are designed with 3D visualisation tools and then 3D printed. Apart from that, this technological innovation is used to design other products like in the automobile industry, pharmaceutical & medical sector, eco-engineering & architecture.

Architecture

These techniques are helping the real estate sector to modernise in a big way. It shortens the overall product development life cycle and quickens the marketing process, by allowing the builders to market better to their target audience as the buyers want to know the feel and look of the upcoming projects.

Solutions like rapid prototyping, AR & VR software, mixed reality and VR animation are revolutionizing the architectural industry. In fact, a recent research has shown that 3D visualisation will play a major role in pulling up the real estate industry to USD 70 trillion by 2030.

Conclusion

This technology is definitely in the fast track of growth and is in a continuous state of flux. New digital innovations are being implemented and the technology is increasingly finding usage in different industrial sectors.

It will be interesting to note how 3D visualisation will take over in the next couple of years and improve the efficiency of many a businesses.

Curious to see how 3D visualization can transform your sales?