NexTech AR Solutions Corp., an augmented reality publishing solutions company, announced today that it has begun working with Google LLC to launch a series of 3-D advertisements using its immersive display platform for clients. 

The company will use its proprietary 3-D asset creation technology, previously designed for augmented reality WebAR solutions, to create content for Google’s new 3-D “Swirl Ads” platform.

Swirl is a 3-D format for advertisements launched as Google’s first foray into immersive ad formats. It is designed to allow advertisers to bring 360-degree assets to mobile devices so that customers can educate themselves before making a purchase. With Swirl, consumers can directly zoom in and out, rotate a product or play an animation.

“Companies are looking for ways to rapidly transform 2-D assets to 3-D assets for advertising, e-commerce and training,” said Evan Gappelberg, chief executive of NexTech. “With our state of the art 3-D capture capabilities, NexTech is the first AR company to offer the industry’s first end-to-end solution for advertisers and brands from the creation of 3-D assets, online 3-D display ads, WebAR 3-D product views, 3-D shopping experiences, and ultimately leading to the purchasing of goods all in a frictionless and seamless 3-D virtual environment.”

Over the next 30 days, NexTech will be working with Google to make its assets available for Swirl Ads.

Available through Google’s Display and Video 360 formats, Swirl Ads will enable brands that have 3-D assets to integrate them immediately into their ad units with minimal changes to code. For this partnership, NexTech will be providing its own 3-D asset creation capabilities to meet Google’s 3-D display process which involves the creation of the 3-D asset, publishing in DV360 for advertising purposes and finally tracking campaign metrics.

These interactive ads are compatible with many major ad networks including Google Ad Network and DoubleClick. Brands can publish ads created with 3-D assets which are cross-browser and cross-device capable that come from the same assets used to create AR experiences on NexTech’s platform. No additional work is required other than building the ad itself.

“Our 3-D-AR solutions work incredibly well with all major platforms and add tremendous value providing rich product experience to online shoppers who are craving more and more when making online purchasing decisions,” said Gappelberg.

Testing done by Sketchfab, a 3-D model marketplace company, showed that 3-D ads worked favorably with audiences compared to 2-D ads showing dramatic improvement in engagement. Immersive ads brought in a 633% increase in sign-up conversions and a 376% increase in click-through rates.

Data research company eMarketer Inc. forecast last year that digital ads will account for 50% of total e-commerce ad spending by 2020, an estimated $357 million. NexTech is best known for its augmented reality multiplatform e-commerce publishing network ARtize, which enables retailers to transform 2-D images into true AR content for customers. The company also released face-tracking AR technology in February that will allow eyeglass customers to “try on” frames virtually using their mobile phones before purchase.

Image: Google