Dassault Steps in SaaS 3D App Space

Dassault Systemes, a French firm that creates 3D and product lifecycle management software and services, has entered into the nascent SaaS 3D modeling space with their launch of 3DVIA, a platform Dassault suggests will transform the world into a place where someone can leverage the power of 3D to create, share, and experience life in 3D online.  The downside to this announcement is that there really isn’t anything there yet aside from being able to upload pre-created models, i.e. the Apple iPhone; however, the potential is there for them to transform this into something quite interesting and equitable. 

Once they launch an application that allows you to easily build 3D models, you’ll most likely start to see subscription packages for more advanced, professional features.  I imagine that as they prove out their online strategy and scale out their internal systems to deal with usage load, we’ll see them bring their industrial applications into the SaaS model. 

Add onto the above news with their announcement of a partnership with the advertising group Publicis to work jointly on 3D online marketing together.  This new venture is going by the name of 3dswym (3DSee What You Mean).  Combine that with the Microsoft partnership to bring 3D modeling capabilities to Virtual Earth and you can see the beginnings of a little ad-driven ecosystem where enough of Virtual Earth has been filled out that you can now walk through virtual landscapes of, say, Seattle where business owners can sell space on their walls or elsewhere all driven contextually off of the information Microsoft (or others) have collected about the visitor.  And finally, the announcement of 3DLive available for Vista with some of the benefits being real-time 3D collaboration and 3D search and navigation.  Will we see some of 3DS in Surface someday in the future?

Some interesting things I could see coming out of 3DVIA and the various partnerships are: 

• Social Networks using more 3D models for avatars and other things.
• Richer online 3D worlds
• Distributed product-cycle collaboration.
• Easier monetization of ad-space within virtual worlds, such as Second Life or open source ones like Croquet or Uni-Verse. 
• A partnership with Microsoft to provide in-game advertising over Xbox Live.
• XNA plug-in that allows you to pull in models built on the 3DVIA platform as MS hopefully embraces the hobbyist game-builder. 
• 3D Flickr

 At what point will we begin to see other CAD / PLM companies bring to market or make announcements about forthcoming SaaS applications?  These announcements from Dassault certainly position them as a player in the space.