A rather aggressive dealer asked me a great question today. “Would AI or computervision replace a photo studio in the future?” I immediately told him it won’t happen because it will be adjusting the actual image of the vehicle itself.
I took the question to Google’s Gemini, and here are the results.
360Booth® Strengths:
Consistency: Standardized lighting and guidance tools ensure consistent, high-quality product shots for every vehicle.
Transparency: 360° views and detailed images build trust with potential buyers by providing a comprehensive view of the car’s condition.
AI Imaging Potential:
AI imaging has the potential to revolutionize car photography, offering features like:
Background Removal and Object Replacement: AI can automatically remove unwanted elements from the background or replace them with virtual environments.
Image Enhancement: AI algorithms can enhance existing photos, adjusting lighting, color balance, and minor imperfections.
3D Modeling: Advanced AI could potentially generate 3D models of vehicles from 2D images, allowing for interactive online car exploration.
AI Limitations and Legal Concerns:
While AI offers exciting possibilities, replacing photo studios entirely might not be realistic in the near future. Here’s why:
Manipulation vs. Enhancement: Legally, dealerships cannot manipulate images to misrepresent a car’s condition. AI-generated touch-ups on dents, scratches, or rust would be fraudulent.
Accuracy and Control: Current AI might struggle with complex lighting conditions, reflections, or unique car features. Studios provide controlled environments for capturing accurate details.
Human Expertise: A skilled photographer’s eye can capture specific angles and details that highlight a car’s best features.
The Future: Collaboration, Not Replacement
Instead of replacing photo studios, AI is more likely to become a collaborative tool. Studios can leverage AI for:
Automated Background Removal: Saving time on post-processing.
Image Consistency Checks: Ensuring every photo meets quality standards.
Virtual Staging: Creating different car settings for online listings.
Conclusion
The 360Booth® offers a unique solution for efficient and high-quality car photography. While AI has the potential to further enhance the process, it likely won’t replace the need for controlled studio environments and the expertise of professional photographers. In the future, studios will likely embrace AI as a valuable tool to streamline workflows and create even more compelling car imagery.
Having high-quality, studio-like images of vehicles online is extremely important, especially considering that 90% of automotive consumers rely on images when shopping for vehicles online. Here’s why:
1. First Impressions: Online, the first interaction a customer has with a vehicle is through its images. High-quality photos can convey the condition, features, and appeal of a vehicle effectively.
2. Engagement: Professional images (not fake backgrounds) can increase visibility, engagement, and the click-through rate (CTR) for listings. Vehicles with better images have shown to generate more interest and inquiries.
3. Perceived Value: Detailed and well-lit photos can enhance the perceived value of a vehicle, suggesting that it has been well-maintained and that the seller is reputable.
4. Efficiency: Quality images can answer many questions about the vehicle’s condition and features, reducing the need for back-and-forth communication and potentially speeding up the sales process.
5. Decision Making: For customers, high-quality images facilitate quicker decision-making by providing a clear and accurate representation of the vehicle’s color, pattern, style, shape, and quality.
In summary, investing in reliable professional photo studio to produce quality photography for online vehicle listings is crucial and can decisively influence buyer behavior. It’s a key aspect of adapting to the digital age where the visual presentation can make a significant difference in attracting and convincing potential buyers.
Poor dealership photography can have negative consequences for your online car sales and customer satisfaction. Some of the possible effects are:
Lower visibility:
Search engines may reject or rank lower your photos if they are of poor quality, have overlays, or contain irrelevant text¹. This means fewer potential buyers will see your inventory online.
Lower interest:
Buyers want to see clear, detailed, and attractive photos of the cars they are considering. Poor photos may not capture their attention or showcase the features of the vehicle. This may reduce the number of leads and inquiries you receive.
Lower trust:
Poor photos may communicate that your dealership does not show great attention to detail and does not prioritize the customer experience. Buyers may question the credibility and professionalism of your dealership and the quality of your cars.
Lower conversion:
Poor photos may create a mismatch between the online and in-person experience of the car. Buyers may be disappointed or frustrated if the car does not look as good as they expected from the photos. This may lead to lower sales and customer retention.
To avoid these consequences, you should invest in high-quality dealership photography that represents your cars accurately and attractively. You could purchase a vehicle photo studio that uses optimal lighting and backgrounds, edit your photos moderately, and follow the best practices for online car shopping. This way, you can increase your online visibility, interest, trust, and conversion.
As a frequent car buyer, you’ve astutely noticed the subpar quality of dealership photos when browsing online. It’s indeed surprising, and there are several reasons behind this phenomenon:
1. Lack of Attention to Detail:
Some dealership personnel may not prioritize photography as a crucial aspect of their online presence. They might rush through the process, resulting in poorly composed or unflattering images.
2. Resource Constraints:
Smaller dealerships, especially those without mandatory photo guidelines, might lack dedicated resources for professional photography. In such cases, they might rely on quick snapshots taken by salespeople or even use smartphone cameras.
3. Misguided Priorities:
Dealerships may focus more on other aspects of their business, such as sales, service, or customer interactions. Photography might take a back seat, leading to hasty and inadequate shots.
4. Underestimating the Impact:
Some dealerships underestimate the impact of high-quality photos on potential buyers. However, just like online dating profiles, first impressions matter. Buyers want to see clear, detailed images of the actual cars they’re considering.
5. Online vs. In-Person Experience:
Dealerships need to recognize that online car shopping is akin to online dating. Buyers form expectations based on the photos they see. If the actual vehicle doesn’t match those expectations, it can lead to disappointment.
Improving dealership photography is essential for attracting more leads and enhancing the customer experience.
Here are some tips to elevate your inventory photos:
Hire a Professional: Consider hiring a full-time professional photographer or a part-time contractor. Someone with expertise can capture your cars in the best light, emphasizing their features.
Moderate Editing: A touch of editing can enhance photos. Crop appropriately, adjust contrast (without altering the car color), and subtly add your dealership logo for branding.
Optimal Lighting: Shoot in areas with good natural light. Avoid direct sunlight or dark shade. The sun should be behind you to minimize unattractive shadows.
Neutral Backgrounds: Choose backgrounds that don’t distract from the car. Neutral settings allow the vehicle to take center stage.
Remember:
Quality photos convey credibility and encourage potential buyers to explore your inventory further. Just as you wouldn’t want misleading online dating photos, your dealership photography should represent the cars accurately and attractively.
Do your lights in your existing space or around the space or in your building need to be turned off during shooting photo in your 360Booth®?
There are a couple of ways to handle that. First of all, we evaluate your space at no cost. While on site, we will make recommendations on what lights have to be turned off or removed. Usually, we focus strictly on lights above the cloth top. In some cases, you’ll only see that in other people’s booths or studios because they don’t have a cloth top to shield the lights reflecting on the top of the car.
So, to answer your questions, you don’t have to shut them all off. We don’t want you to do that. It’s a hazard with dim lights in working areas, for one, but the ones directly above the cylinder of the studio, yes. We would like those turned off. They’re not the right color temperature, and they will cause issues inside the studio.
You’re right, car dealerships are increasingly using AI segmentation technology to replace backgrounds in their vehicle photos for online sales. While this technology boasts some advantages, it’s not without its drawbacks of looking fake, hurting sales. Let’s delve into the positives and negatives,
Positives:
Enhanced Visual Appeal: By swapping out dull or distracting backgrounds for AI generated ones, dealerships can create more visually appealing photos that temporarily grab attention and make the vehicle appear more desirable with the use of fake backgrounds.
Flexibility and Control: With AI, dealerships have greater control over the final image. They can choose from a wide range of pre-made fake backgrounds or even create their own custom scenes, tailoring the environment to the specific vehicle and target audience.
Negatives:
Unrealistic Representation: The biggest concern, as you can imagine, is the potential for inaccurate rendering. If the vehicle isn’t seamlessly integrated into the background, it can appear fake and undermine trust with potential buyers. (Think of a car hovering awkwardly above the ground or casting bizarre shadows.)
Technical Challenges: Implementing and using AI background replacement effectively requires technical expertise and high-quality software. Inexperienced users or outdated software can lead to glitches and unnatural-looking results.
Over-reliance on Technology: While AI can be a valuable tool, it shouldn’t replace professional photography skills and attention to detail. Focusing solely on flashy fake backgrounds without capturing the vehicle’s true features and condition can backfire.
Potential Legal Issues: In some regions, there might be legal concerns about misrepresenting the actual location or condition of the vehicle using manipulated photos. Transparency and clear disclosures are crucial to avoid legal hassles.
Conclusion
Overall, AI fake background replacement technology has more drawbacks than benefits for car dealerships. While it can enhance visual appeal temporarily, and provide some flexibility, it’s important to use it responsibly and prioritize accurate representation over flashy fake effects. Remember, TRUST and TRANSPARENCY are key in the car buying process, and MANIPULATED fake background photos can quickly erode that trust.
Accurate, real photography in a 360Booth® car photo studio.
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