The idea of the project is based on an internet shop (Bivolino.com) for custom made shirts, and its customer oriented web page. New advanced services have been designed in order to further facilitate and expand the scope of the shops' applicability. The web page has been enhanced with a new generation of 2.5D/3D functionalities and a virtual B2C platform. Easy creation of original patterns with the use of real time rendering and an innovative artist user interface with advanced artist's cockpit constitute the most important ICT iART solutions.
More specifically, following set of innovative integrated ICT solutions has been developed:
(i) Upgrade of the configuration toolkit from 2.5D to 2.5D/3D by including shadowing and rotating features without the need of plug-ins and easy extension of the catalogue to clothing accessories fitting with the shirts. This the application lends itself to be used as a web- service in a server-based setup. It is platform independent, eliminates any manual intervention and features a straightforward workflow including in-line image processing.
(ii) Move to real-time garment design placement and online rendering (fabric draping), so as to enable the artist to visually assess in “real-time” how a new print design would fit to a given item (instant visualization). As a content provider, he can create and configure new content in a fully automated solution. Optimisation of the color-coded input models considerably improved the image quality of the final renderings, yielding a photorealistic look of the simulated result.
(iii) Building of a B2C platform (www.iart.bivolino.com) enabling co-creation and user generated art content. A cockpit - the Advanced Artist Interface AAI - enables the artist to embed new patterns, create collections, publish designs on the public gallery, monitor messages, follow-up sales and income and more. A consumer interface allows to comment, evaluate and vote. A range of marketplace multivendor extension API’s/plug-ins make it possible for the artists to publish the configured shirts in catalogues hosted on external platforms like marketplaces, social media and artists portals.
The iART platform with its novel ICT tools was thoroughly tested and successfully validated and demonstrated by/to several stakeholders. 2 scientific publications were issued.
The project was extensively disseminated in terms of participation to expositions and social media awareness, as well as presentation to the media and at international conferences, participation to workshops, fairs etc. In addition a major milestone was the presentation of the project in a museum exhibition that was curated especially for the Bivolino business (part of which is the iart-bivolino.com Platform).
An adequate plan for the exploitation of the results will assure a wide impact of the project. This plan includes a sustainable business model, the identification and dissemination of the key exploitable results and the analysis of the IPRs and related risks.