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Aston Martin building website worthy of its cars
Aston is working with its agency, Splendid, to create the DBS of car configurators, and by the looks of it, the site must have cost a lot more to build than a DBS does. Splendid started off by creating a 3D render of the car that actually looks photorealistic and not like a virtual representation that gets lost somewhere in the uncanny valley. When you change the color -- to any of 2.5 billion combinations, according to the DBS designer -- you aren't simply tinting a model of a car, you're looking at a car in that color.Inside, the configurator is detailed enough to let you zoom in to see individual stitches on various interior surfaces. And each part of the car is highlighted, so you can choose your wheels with full-screen images and get complete specs on the wheels alone. And when you need a break from deciding on the red brakes or silver, you can watch videos and create your own video channel.
After you've configured the car you want, the fun continues at the dealership. Dealers will be provided with Samsung UMPC's that allow further configuration -- even matching the color of an item you bring in for the paint job on your DBS. It's a setup worthy of Q himself, although they didn't mention whether you could install a defibrillator in the glovebox. Click the link to check out a demo of the keynote video that explains it. (Note: you need Silverlight to view it.) Thanks for the tip, Ben!
[Source: Mix]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ben 8:03PM (3/31/2008)
Sorry. :) I forgot to mention that Silverlight bit.
Also note in the video (I think it's in another one with the interview with the AM designer and a guy from Splendid), the website will also have a way for users to "test drive" the Aston they configured on a virtual track, and save/share results.
Aston Martin is finally doing their cars justice, just like Maserati did with theirs.
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Charly 10:53AM (4/01/2008)
Wonder if microsoft had anything to do with it in order to push their Silverlight plug-in
Mike 7:37AM (4/01/2008)
Everything was going great until that Silverlight bit...obviously Splendid is an MS shop full of fanboys who like to ignore industry standards (Flash/Flex/Shockwave)...
alyx 9:11AM (4/01/2008)
@Mike
How is flash/flex/shockwave an industry standard?
MS haters always fear competition, hilarious!
User 10:45PM (4/11/2008)
Alyx,
By definition Macromedia's Flash and Shockwave are industry standards. An industry standard is created when a significantly (in this case indisputably significantly) large share of the professional market is of that standard.
It's a little silly to think that something at such a large scale is due to "MS haters." In the professional world "MS haters" do not play a significant role. There are other reasons why Flash and Shockwave are the industry standard in the web development industry.
Tim 8:33PM (3/31/2008)
That's funny, in that I just went there myself the other day.
It's probably the best car configurator I've seen.
After looking at that, go check out Lamborghini's website... it's pathetic.
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Bimmmer 8:57PM (3/31/2008)
About time, the old one useless and no help in specing out my Vantage, not to mention it wouldn't work half the time.
Happy to see Aston Martin is listening to it's customers!!
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ALEXDB9 11:29PM (3/31/2008)
Very true.
Longhorn 10:06PM (3/31/2008)
ARGH!!! Silverlight!
It just won't install on my Vista Ultimate SP1... Tried quite a few times before to watch the Bill Gates video, tried again, and epic fail. Error ID 1625 telling me I need to speak to the admin when I am one. Hatred!
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Tim 9:20AM (4/01/2008)
That's odd.
I just installed it on my Vista 64 SP1 with no issues.
Bummer Dude.
nick c 10:28PM (3/31/2008)
now tell audi to do the same.
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User 10:46PM (4/11/2008)
Ditto.
Add BMW and Porsche to that list.
zamafir 12:54AM (4/01/2008)
This site is awesome!
"Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server error '80004005'
[DBNETLIB][ConnectionOpen (Connect()).]SQL Server does not exist or access denied.
/configurator/_inc_globals.asp, line 16 "
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Toy Yoda 2:13AM (4/01/2008)
Just enter "Bond007" for the coupon code and get 50% off on your next Aston Martin.
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RxMadness 3:24AM (4/01/2008)
Autoblog is a PG-13 "worksafe" site. Please do not advertise porn here.
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Toppi 3:36AM (4/01/2008)
Silverlight 2.0 is absolutly rocking!
I was visiting the kick-off event for winserver2k8, sql2k8 and visual studio 2k8 the other day and watched some tracks about silverlight 2.0. I have to admit, that this will be an absolut flash-killer in enterprise buisness. Something I wouldn't have thought of before. Absolutly stunning!
Can't wait for the release...
Anyway: Great to see my favorite car maker actually using it in the coolest way I have ever seen a fully integrated web- and fatclient interface.
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dance lady 6:55AM (4/01/2008)
I can't wait to see this website. Aston Martin is to me a great and classy car so I think the website will be to.
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paul bishop 11:10AM (4/01/2008)
Glad you like the work, not sure I like being called "fanboy" though, other than of cars.
We work with the client and users to create the best user experience possible, whatever the technology...the user drives the design not the technology.