Google Introduces AI-powered 3D visualisation tool for online shopping

Google has announced a new generative artificial intelligence tool that enables retailers to create high-quality, interactive 3D product visualisations using as few as three images. The technology is being gradually introduced to enhance Google Shopping listings, allowing for a more immersive and detailed online shopping experience.

According to Google, the system utilises its Veo AI video generation model, which can infer motion and generate frames to produce responsive and realistic 3D renderings. The tool aims to replicate elements of in-store shopping by offering users a closer look at products online.

 

“We’ve developed new generative AI techniques to create high quality and shoppable 3D product visualisations from as few as three product images,” Google stated. “This technology is already enabling the generation of interactive 3D views for a wide range of product categories on Google Shopping.”

The company says Veo’s architecture, based on diffusion modelling and capable of fine-tuning across multiple tasks, makes it particularly effective at synthesising novel views. The system can accurately reflect the interactions of light, material, texture and geometry, enhancing the realism of the 3D models.

“A key strength of Veo is its ability to generate videos that capture complex interactions between light, material, texture, and geometry,” Google noted. “Its powerful diffusion-based architecture and its ability to be finetuned on a variety of multi-modal tasks enable it to excel at novel view synthesis.”

The model has reportedly performed well across a range of categories, including furniture, electronics and apparel. It has also demonstrated the ability to replicate challenging surface types, such as glossy or metallic finishes.

The development may pave the way for broader use of 3D assets in virtual retail environments. By expanding the corpus of 3D product models, Google also anticipates potential applications in virtual reality (VR), where users could interact with realistic renderings of real-world items in immersive spaces.

Although the full tactile experience of physical shopping cannot be replicated online, enhanced 3D imagery combined with VR may bring consumers closer to the experience.

The rollout of the tool is ongoing, with eligible merchants gradually gaining access to the new 3D object generation capabilities through Google Shopping

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