Simulated-3-D Model Will Bring The Airliner To Prospective Buyers

An virtual 737 has been introduced that will allow prospective customers with a way to view and understand the aircraft without standing next to one. Boeing's 737 Explained is a virtual model of the Boeing 737 generated from thousands of high-resolution photographs that create an immersive 3-D-like model.

737 Explained Screen Shot

"We were looking for a new way to communicate the essence of the Boeing 737," said Diana Klug, director of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "737 Explained is one of the best marketing tools I've seen because it allows us to show prospective customers the new features and improvements without bringing them to an airport."

The Boeing marketing team wanted an innovative way to demonstrate the airplane's latest features. The planemaker turned to Microsoft Corp. and [wire] stone, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. 737 Explained is hosted on Windows Azure, which stores the project data — more than 20,000 high-resolution photographs combined into a 32-gigapixel image of the plane — on the software giant's cloud-based servers. This allows prospective customers and Boeing representatives to show the detail of the airplane virtually anytime, anywhere, and on many different devices.

737 Explained makes possible virtual 360-degree tours of the airplane, and the ability to view every component of the plane down to the landing gear, engine components and individual rivets. Overall, the companies say, 737 Explained has created a technologically impressive alternative to traditional marketing materials such as brochures or slide presentations.

FMI: www.boeing.com, www.microsoft.com