Imaginestics, which describes itself as the creator of the world's first online shape search engine, 3D-Seek, unveiled its service at Demofall '06.
Using 3D-Seek.com, users can simply doodle (draw freehand sketch) a shape of the desired part/product on the doodle pad or upload a 2D drawing/3D model of a part/product as search input to locate a supplier who produces that part or has the capability to manufacture it.
3D-Seek.com uses its innovative shape-matching technology to match the input shape with hundreds of thousands of parts that have been made available by participating suppliers to provide search users with an accurate match within seconds.
In combination with a powerful ontology knowledge-based text search technology, 3D-Seek's revolutionary shape search engine easily overcomes the challenges faced by text-based search engines in dealing with variations in specifications of manufactured parts and products globally.
“Text as a primary search source has significant barriers, such as context, user bias and language. Scouring the millions of irrelevant search results wastes valuable time, leading to frustrations and often duplication of effort. With 3D-Seek.com the ability to communicate what you need through a picture or drawing is literally worth a thousand words,” says Nainesh Rathod, CEO of Imaginestics. “Visualisation is truly a universal language.”
3D-Seek.com offers suppliers a new platform to market their products to potential buyers. It is free for use for both part/product manufacturers and search users. Suppliers can upload their parts, catalogues, pictures or identify their manufacturing capabilities in their own secure area under 3D-Seek.com's Supplier Centre. 3D-Seek indexes this data and makes it searchable by potential buyers. Suppliers even have the facility to offer their customers the ability to download CAD models directly from their secure area or configure it online and download the configured model to see whether the part meets their requirement.
“Since we have started using 3D-Seek.com to enable our distributors and customers to locate and download the models of our parts/products we have seen a 30 per cent increase in business,” says Chris Round, marketing manager of QC industries. “This is an innovative and powerful tool for suppliers to get connected with their buyers.”
3D-Seek.com has been available to users in a beta for the last six months. To date there have been over 1.4 million hits and 300,000 searches performed, with over 700,000 page views. Currently over 4,600 suppliers and 6,800 users have registered.
For more information, visit www.imaginestics.com
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