For the launch of its ground-breaking Contrarotator® washing machine, household goods manufacturer Dyson turned to ART's (Advanced Rendering Technology) RenderDrive® advanced ray tracing system to create photographic-quality realizations of the new product's innovative wash action.

To coincide with the product launch, Dyson developed a new website www.dyson.com with extensive animation explaining the concept and demonstrating how the Contrarotator's unique dual-drum system improves wash results. Studio Manager Chris Graham tested a variety of rendering solutions before choosing RenderDrive's hardware-assisted ray tracing environment for its outstanding image quality and rendering speed.

Working with design visualization specialists Theseus Projects, Graham's team created a series of images ranging from close-ups of the product to life-size side views of the technology. As well as the Web-based animations, the team created high-resolution still images for use in the product brochures.

"We're extremely pleased with the results," said Graham. "We combined virtual photographs created with RenderDrive and conventional photography of the product, and we think there's no discernible difference between them."

Dyson is renowned for developing new technology for household appliances. The Contrarotator washing machine is the first to feature dual-drums that spin in opposite directions to flex clothes. The technology was engineered after Dyson's research and development department found that even the best conventional washing machines deliver poorer cleaning performance than traditional hand washing. By developing two opposed rotation drums, the R&D department found it could mimic the action of handwashing with visibly better results.

Renowned for its no-compromise approach to the highest visual quality, RenderDrive uses physically-accurate rendering methods that allow designers, architects and animators to work intuitively with 3D models in a rendering universe adhering to the same rules that govern our own. Light sources, surfaces, reflections and refractions all behave naturalistically, making it easy to achieve outstanding images without the complicated workarounds and idiosyncrasies required by other rendering products.