United States site instead?First Site to Market Digital Objects For CAD Users
San Francisco, Sept. 10, 1998
Objects Online, the world’s first online catalog to offer “smart” Geometric Description Language (GDL) 3D objects, is analogous to a 24-hour superstore where Archicad users worldwide can purchase and instantly download the same object, at the same time, for the same
price.
GDL objects act as “intelligent” clip art; each object contains a wealth of 3-D information that can be customized by specifying parameters. These objects are indispensable to architects and computer-aided designers who work in the digital realm. Objects Online, which brokers GDL objects for as many as 20 developers, launched its site with hundreds of items organized in five categories. The site expects to offer thousands of objects by the end of the year.
Single objects – human figures, cars, doors, windows, home and commercial furnishings including furniture, fixtures and decorative items, outdoor furniture, trees and plants, and special construction elements and assemblies;
Families – small groups of similar objects;
Schemes – style-coordinated, room-specific groups;
Libraries – groups of objects produced by a single developer;
Utilities – Archicad add-ons and texture collections.
Products range in price based on complexity from $5 for a single object
up to $200 for a complete object library.
“With the increased use of 3D visualization, there is a tremendous demand for GDL objects,” said Objects Online President David Correia. “We offer Archicad users a wide array of choices and the convenience of purchasing online from anywhere in the world.”
Scrolling through a description of each product and its accompanying thumbnail image, shoppers can view a larger rendered image and then add a Windows 95/NT or Mac OS version of that object to a virtual “shopping cart”. Shoppers then make a secure online purchase by credit card and download their objects within seconds or minutes of the purchase.
“Electronic commerce is an exciting new way of doing business and
Graphisoft is thrilled to collaborate with Objects Online in being the
first to make architectural objects commercially available online,” says
Graphisoft U.S. President Tamás Hajas. “E-commerce has made objects
much more accessible and will be key in delivering the variety of content
needed to make Archicad universal.”
Objects Online will source specific objects and coordinate development of custom GDL objects or groups of objects for its customers. Future plans for the site include offerings of “smart” brand-name objects from furniture and building product manufacturers.
Based in San Francisco, Objects Online is actively forming marketing partnerships with third-party object developers and resellers. For a copy of their developer guidelines and an agreement, send email to .