Every year anew, the imm cologne kicks off the furniture year. Which trends will make it to the stores, which innovations await the interior business?  Interior enthusiasts and business insiders will find the answers in January on the fairgrounds in Cologne.
Together with Koelnmesse, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Industry of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the RFID GmbH by Geschwister Flötotto, the initiative “let’s be smart” presents a modern, design-oriented Smart Home. The special exhibition vividly depicts how those living in a “smart” home can live safer and more comfortably through a variety of technical refinements.

A sneak peek at the Smart Home at imm cologne 2018.

We are part of the party, too. You will find us in the office area of the Smart Home – equipped with innovative K+N SMART.OFFICE furniture, giving a glimpse into the smart office and working culture of the future. Also aboard: our Virtual Reality set.
Visit us and experience the fascination of virtual reality for yourself. Explore virtual worlds or see how you can visualize and present ideas with pCon.planner or the pCon.box.

imm cologne
15.-21.01.2017
Smart Home
Hall 4.2 Stand D-10

PS: If you buy your tickets before January 15 2018, you will profit from the advance sale prices.

Impress with your design. Great designs deserve to be seen from all perspectives. Or even more: They want to be explored, and that most likely interactively. impress brings your 360° panoramas and 3D models alive and makes it easy for you to share your ideas with other people. For a literally vivid impression. It’s more than just a viewer for spherical panoramic images – impress is for those who love to touch others emotionally with amazing presentations and let their design talk for itself.

Spherical images convey a sense of space with a 360° view. And with just one click, the VR mode is activated for the special experience. Planning © Haworth

Share with others and pimp your presentation. An interior design is not just chic, but exactly the solution that the customer – or your own four walls – expect from you. Professional planners and interior designers know that there are many ideas and even more clicks between a first sketch and the final draft – which makes it all the more important, that even the smallest details of the design find their place in the presentation. How does it work? Add emotional highlights to your presentation and invite people to interactively explore your designs! 360° panoramas and 3D models from the pCon.planner are particularly well suited for this. And now impress comes into play.

And this is how it works. All you need to share your ideas or use them for presentations is a public link to your 360 ° panorama (JPG, PNG) or 3D model (PEC file). Such a link is e.g. generated by cloud services (Dropbox, GoogleDrive or One Drive): save your media, share the link and enter them into impress.

Navigate around the model, zoom in to details. No questions will be left.

Once the content is in the viewer, various functions are available for further use via the impress menu. Whether embedded (as in this blog) or as a visual treat in Sway presentations e.g. – you will surely leave a vivid impression!

Get ready to impress! Let your design speak for itself.

With the motto „let’s be smart – future of intelligent homes“, we once again attended the international furniture fair imm cologne this year. As a longtime partner of let’s be smart we were able to give the visitors a feeling that a smart home is not just the finished house, which is built with all the refinements and gadgets, but that it already starts one step before – with the smart planning.

And this is where pCon.planner comes in: We were able to plan the entire Smart Home of the fair beforehand. With the help of our new VR plugin (thanks to our partner CMC), the booth could be visualized in the VR environment at the touch of a button. With this solution, end-users as well as architects and designers can create virtual showrooms that provide an interactive experience of sizes, shapes and materials as well as complete kitchen, home-office or living room solutions.

But not only the stationary solution was well received by the visitors, also the mobile app pCon.box aroused interest, because it can be used to configure furniture from well-known manufacturers from Assmann, König + Neurath to Vitra and Zumtobel on the tablet or smartphone. So you can try out which furniture could later fit into your own Smart Home.

We are pleased about the successful trade fair and thank all visitors for their interest in our solutions! Finally, here are some impressions of our stand.

Open Office – Unrestricted Communication. More and more, shared offices are giving way to open office spaces. They foster creativity, exchange – communication. These spaces, however, have one drawback: Wherever people are talking, typing and sorting papers, or telephones are ringing and printers are chirping, it can get loud. It’s not only disturbing, but it also affects performance and health.

Soundproofing ensures a good atmosphere. To counteract this issue, furniture manufacturers and acoustic solution specialists offer a wide variety of products – from partition walls to pictures and roll-down blinds – that work to improve the room’s acoustic atmosphere. The number of partitions, pictures or blinds one needs depends on the particular room setup and design and should be taken into account with the initial planning of the room. In the end, the main concern for room planning is the comfort of those who will be using it. Planners have been aware of the idea that acoustics play a large part in this comfort for quite some time, and focus on holistic spatial solutions for that reason.

Acoustic Planning in pCon.planner. With Version 7.6 of pCon.planner PRO, you can visually display the acoustic effects of various room designs and materials. So, how does it work? It’s possible with the help of our acoustic partners Schall & Raum and the import possibility of a specifically-developed exchange format (CNIVG). To visualize acoustic parameters such as sound pressure level, reverberation time and speech intelligibility within your room plans, all you need to do is transfer your plan to Schall & Raum. Based on the plan provided, acoustic parameters are calculated with the professional software CadnaR, which can then be imported into the room plan in the form of an interactive acoustic map and visually displayed. In addition to the map, Schall & Raum will also provide you with an analysis of the calculations and general information regarding room acoustics.

In the Properties Editor, you can determine which acoustic size should be displayed in the map. The different colors on the map, symbols for the various values, and the value ranges can all be individually customized. The respective map key can also be easily created.

Great sound in the layout area, too. The acoustic map, along with its properties and various settings, can also be displayed in the layout area. Aesthetic and functional, you can also create impressive presentations for the acoustic conditions of various designs.

In addition to renderings and floor plans, you can also aesthetically and effectively display the speech intelligibility or reverberation times of a room thanks to acoustic maps – in the plan itself or the layout area.

Room acoustics in pCon.planner: Stronger value for your plans, stronger arguments for your sales team, stronger service for your customers.

Innovative ideas may be the capital for creative decision-makers, but even the best ideas can’t succeed if they aren’t seen. It’s essential to leave an impression – lasting and positive. That’s where impress comes in!

Explore ideas individually
impress is the service to help you share your space ideas and bring focus to your designs. Not only are furnishing proposals seen, but clients and prospective customers can explore the big picture as well as discover the details; at their own pace and from their own point of view. Interactive presentations – for impressions that last.

Embed 3D models easily into blogs and websites thanks to impress.
Permission to touch: use the left mouse button to rotate the 3d model, drag it with the right one and zoom in and out on the model by using the scroll wheel.

For websites, blogs or just because.
When it comes to application and use, the sky’s the limit. Embed your 3D models (in PEC format) and panoramic views into product websites, blogs and online shops or present your designs in the browser without problem. The VR mode for 360° panoramas ensures that extra wow effect. With the help of a cardboard headset, your product presentation becomes immersive exploration that won’t be forgotten!

What else do you need to know about impress? Take a look at our video:

Get started now: Show your ideas with impress!
No costs, no registration, no catch!

Imagine having a design plan or product that is just simply perfect, and yet, you are not quite sure on how to present it. It is critical to utilize the best view possible to flaunt all aspects of your design. Why? Because your design should be able to outshine other designs and most importantly, fulfill the need of its own.

In order to help you solve the riddle, here are several opportunities you can find on the pCon.planner that will aid you achieve the best possible way to present them:

Render styles
Great designs deserve to be perfectly showcased. However, this should not mean to provide photorealistic rendering at all times. Therefore, whether you want your design to be displayed in full color or simply outlined in black and white, pCon.planner has everything you could need.

Clay mode
Every now and then, by keeping things within the ‘less is more’ manner can be more appealing. By applying clay mode onto your design or product can be the trick!

Product silhouettes
When presenting a specific object in a design plan, it’s important to find that perfect outline that accentuates it perfectly. And if your product is a classic and timeless piece, it will get identified pretty quickly! Question time: do you have any clue on how to do this?

We surely hope that you take advantage of the possibilities above to pimp your presentation. While you are on it, why not try it out and send us your design?

In case you haven’t downloaded the latest version of our pCon.planner, you can do it by clicking the link below:

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

Macro Trends, Information Mobility and Infotainment. The Point of Sale revolves around 3 points: information, communication and, increasingly, entertainment. The entertainment value of the product itself is no longer enough. Instead, the services surrounding the product, from the generation of customer interest to the after-sales activities, have become increasingly more important. The time of the demanding customer is precious and high-quality consultation is expected. Impressive presentations are needed to persuade customers. This includes having the right amount of accurate information at the right time. The keyword here is digital value creation, and value-creating OFML at the point of sale is an attractive solution.

Interactive Product Information for Smartphones. With pCon.facts, you have a mobile face-to-face consulting tool that provides manufacturers with a self-determined channel for providing their sales network with access to all product information. Whether pricing, product features and certificates, high-quality images, brochures or assembly instructions, among others – with the mobile app, the user has multimedia content available immediately. This includes 3D, real-time visualization, which allows you to zoom in on product details.

pCon.facts provides your sales network with all relevant product information, completely accessible on the smartphone. Check out this example from Sedus Black Dot, where the user has access to available product information at the touch of a button.

Article Lists Plus. As a working basis for the creation of offers and/or presentation portfolios and moodboards, the user can create article lists that are tailored to their particular needs, enrich them with on-demand, dimensioned snapshots and product images, and share them in various formats. The following video gives a short insight into the compression of article lists into a clear presentation of a product and its sub-items.

pCon.facts supports OFML configuration concepts that are comprised of more than one article (sub-items). Whether detailed article lists with information on all articles and additional components or a compressed presentation – it is up to the user. Here’s an example from Sedus attention.

Increase Consulting Expertise, Connect Business Partners. pCon.facts brings product information to where it’s needed. Plus, if there are still open questions, the app allows for direct contact with the particular product’s supplier. Areas of application range from customer meetings at the point of sale to electronic communication and process management.

Note: The app is a professional tool for authorized users. To access your manufacturer data, a personalized pCon.update or pCon.login account is required. Learn more about pCon.login here.

pCon.facts will officially be launched with the industry highlight ORGATEC 2018. As a manufacturer, prepare yourself and take the digital leap with new chances for B2B in the office furniture industry.

One highlight follows another this year: Just after the ORGATEC and the launch of our app pCon.facts, we have the release of pCon.planner 8.0 for you!

pCon.planner 8.0 is packed with new features and nice-essities that will make a designers heart beat faster!
Here’s a rough overview:

• The beauty within
  “You don’t get a second chance for a first impression” and when it comes to design, this saying is more than true. With the new real-time rendering AND the new realistic materials, your pCon.planner designs will definitely leave a grand (first) impression.

• Setting the scene
  Whatever the right atmosphere might be, all settings that help you create it are now to be found in the new Environment dialog. Insert backgrounds, adapt the lighting… everything atmosphere-related is now in one place.

• A solid base
  pCon.planner 8.0 comes with a brand new PDF import feature, allowing you to use floorplans in PDF format in the 3D room planner. Lines and text are kept intact, which means you can simply place your walls (based) on the pdf.

• Object replacement
  Create alternative furnishing proposals in the blink of an eye. The new object replacement features lets you replace multiple articles and other objects at once with one single click.

In addition, users of the PRO version can be happy about the following improvements:

• Batch-Rendering
  A feature probably many users waited for – rendering a series of images whilst being able to continue working on your design. That is exactly what users of the PRO version of pCon.planner 8.0 will get.

• Easily find articles
  Finding a specific article in a spacious plan with many different products and articles can feel like finding a needle in the infamous haystack. Gone are those days! A new article selection makes finding what you are looking for easy as a child’s play.

Further details and more new functions can be found as usual in our pCon.planner Help Center.It’s worth taking a look! Or even better: Get the new version of pCon.planner and discover the new features!

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

Some of our users have already noticed – when rendering with OSPRay, the “Sunlight” setting no longer exists. The good news: In pCon.planner 8.0, the sun doesn’t only shine in the rendering, but already illuminates rooms while planning.

In order to imitate the sun, we use a method that is not new, but has simply not been so present up to now: We use Directional Light; the incident light beams are parallel and therefore this is a close representation of natural sunlight.

The use of directional light as sunlight in pCon.planner 8.0: The “sun” can be moved directly in the planning area, it can also be adjusted in color. Consequently, the lighting situation can be assessed realistically immediately.

Like any other light source, you can insert a Directional Light into your planning via the Room Elements group and can intuitively move and adjust it at any time in your planning area. The changes are visible directly in the planning – which saves time you would have invested to create sample renderings to assess the lighting .
Another advantage of using directional light as the sun: it shows its effect in renderings, no matter which renderer you use – OSPRay, Yafaray and of course in the real-time display.
The rendering was created in Filmic mode: The lighting of the scene is the same as in the planning area.

More information about lighting in pCon.planner can be found in the pCon.planner Help Center.

Materials make the difference
Appealing presentation does not only require beautiful furniture and thought-out planning, the right materials are also crucial. In addition they have a massive influence on the realism of the planning and can therefor make the difference between good and brilliant visuals.
Therefore we improved the material model for pCon.planner 8.0.

The new model can…
The new model enables a realistic and appealing representation of materials in real-time mode while being supported for rendering with OSPRay. It is based on physical rendering which means that the materials behave physically plausible. Accordingly the material model works in all possible lighting scenarios.

This makes it even easier to create high-quality image material, while planning continues to gain in realism. All this reduces the effort required for great presentations to a minimum.

In comparison: Real-time display in pCon.planner 7 (before) and pCon.planner 8 (after).

Influence on the Material Editor
Furthermore the material editor has been revised and is now more structured. A limitation to a few parameters makes it easy to adjust the materials, while the pCon.planner help in the chapter Materials describes exactly what the parameters do.
The increased user-friendliness in the Material Editor makes it even easier for you to create realistic and effective representations. This gives you the opportunity to bring life into your planning.

Convinced?
You would rather see with your own eyes what this new model can achieve? Then try the pCon.planner 8.0 with its new features now.

And who knows, maybe a material-tastic surprise will be waiting for you soon…

To commemorate the launching of pCon.planner 8, we are delighted to announce our completely revised material collection in pCon.catalog! Not only all materials are now more optimized and realistic looking, but many materials have been added to enrich your planning.

Like, who would have thought that you can now insert elements such as asphalt and pavement into your design?! Meanwhile, these two are just a few of many from our highly improved materials that are carefully selected just for you, because we understand that materials can either make or break your masterpiece!

Are you ready to explore the newly upgraded materials in pCon.catalog?
In case you are looking for materials or textures from a specific manufacturer, click below:

With an expanding selection of materials being added, we truly hope that it will bring more excitement in assisting the process of creating the plan of your dreams!

You can no longer find the ambient lighting and background settings in the usual place? Don’t worry, the functions are of course still included in the room planner.

Both features are now bundled and available in pCon.planner 8.0 under the tab ‘view’.

New dialog ‘Environment’
The usual settings of the subitems can be found there. Through the Skybox a background image can be inserted, which provides more realism and atmosphere in the planning. Intensity and position of the ambient light are further adjusted by sliders. In addition, light intensity and mood can be determined by a selected photo.

Combining these functions into one dialog now allows you to achieve your desired result even more easily and quickly, while the settings remain functional and uncomplicated.

This GIF shows how different backgrounds can influence the impact of a planning.

You would like to test these and other new features? Then download pCon.planner 8.0 now!

Great renderings need time. In addition, whoever triggers the rendering in the room planner cannot continue planning. Until now, because the long-awaited feature has finally arrived.

The solution
This is why we made it easy for you to do just that in the new pCon.planner 8.0!

With the new Batch Rendering for pCon.planner Pro you are able to use the planner while rendering images in the background. That will make it easy for you to make changes or display different versions of the product in the future – without time being an issue.

Selecting and rendering more than one camera view at a time is another important advantage. If the blue chair needs demonstration from the left, right and the front, you can export all views at once for rendering. This allows you to use your time efficiently while being able to focus on your work without unnecessary distractions.

This video shows you how to use the new Batch Renderer.

Furthermore the rendering can also be completely outsourced to another computer or system. This saves local resources for planning, delivers your results faster and increases your productivity.

Additionally you are able to edit the organisation of your render jobs afterwards in the batch rendering web interface. Individual jobs can be paused, stopped, deleted or the order of all can be changed. This results in a high degree of planning flexibility right up to the final steps of creation.

In a nutshell: What do you get out of it

• Efficient use of time
• Focused Working
• High planning flexibility
• Increased productivity

Try out the new functions of pCon.planner 8.0 and enjoy the uncomplicated batch rendering! Download the trial version here and test it for 30 days.

For retailers and Santa Clause: the new version of pCon.facts is now available for download. If you are looking for inspiration, you will find it here.

That is new:

• Safety first.
  A project is only created when the first article is added to the article list. Above that, the new auto save function automatically saves your work progress.

• Templates simplifies presentations.
  A projects can now be converted to a template, which is then used as a template for presentations – the original remains unchanged.

• More space for words.
  A new layout for the PDF article list leaves more room for descriptions.

• Cosmetic surgery.
  In addition, we made several small improvements to optimize the user experience. Already discovered?

More information and DOWNLOAD here.

Take a glimpse into the app

If you are an interior pro, this won’t be news to you: Presenting your ideas and designs in a way your customer can relate to is essential for successfully initiating and executing projects.

The latest clou for interior presentations: 360° images make it possible to dive completely into the virtual space, look around and get a holistic impression of the planned office, classroom or living room. With these virtual tours, the viewer becomes an acting part of the scene. Actiu recognizes this potential and takes advantage of exactly that.

Innovation not only in product development: take virtual tours through Actiu projects on their website.

Three projects – all visualized in pCon.planner – are accessible on the website of the Spain-based company. You can either view them on a computer or tablet or – and this one actually allows the immersive experience – use your phone as VR screen. To do so, simply

• open the panorama,
• switch to VR mode
• and place your smartphone in a cardboard goggle.

The tours come with engaging music, making the experience even more special. Curious? Then grab your smartphone and immerse yourself in virtual worlds.

Note: Are you looking for a VR solution for HTC Vive or Windows Mixed Reality? Our VR plugin for pCon.planner PRO might be of interest to you.

Smart Presentation for Consultation-intensive Products. With the pCon.box, you can design the perfect room solution for your customers as well as have additional production information on hand directly at the point of sale. With AR technology, 3D interactions such as zooming in on details and live configuration of objects you create lasting customer experiences.

The new version of the sales app pCon.box is now available for download and comes with a completely new look and feel.

New in this version:

- Clean, intuitive and well sorted.
The redesigned user interface of pCon.box brings main features into focus and ensures an overall better user experience.

- Know more, consult better.
Manufacturers have the opportunity to provide valuable additional product information. Retailers and architects thus benefit from high-quality product brochures, pictures, certificates and much more in conversation with the customer.

- More efficient through templates.
A project can now be converted to a template, which is then used as a template for presentations – the original remains unchanged.

- Bug fixes

Click here to download the latest version of pCon.box:*

*Please note: The pCon.box update for Windows will be available soon. Until then, you can communicate and visualize your projects with the current version of our sales app.

+++ The download is worth it -  we’ll reveal more tomorrow!
Hints: #WalterKnoll #Contest #ChanceToWin +++

Walter Knoll is a top player not only when it comes to their products but they also set strong statements when it comes to digitalization. Currently, the company invites their customers to go on a digital journey – and rewards the fun with high-quality prizes.

Source: Walter Knoll

This is how you can participate: download pCon.box* (it is free), select the product of your choice from the Walter Knoll contest catalog and place it within your favorite location using the AR feature. A picture of your favorite piece is your entrance ticket to the contest – provided that you share it with Walter Knoll on Instagram, using the hashtag #walterknollAR and linking it to @walterknoll_official. Alternatively, you can send your images to the following e-mail address: digitalmarketing@walterknoll.de.

Find all the details about the contest and its conditions on the homepage of Walter Knoll.

If you have already installed the pCon.box, a click on the button will take you directly to the Walter Knoll catalog. If not, you will be prompted to download the pCon.box from the appstore.

The closing date for entries is 26 April 2019 – so there is plenty of time to present masterly products in a masterful manner.

———
*Contest for users of iOS and Android devices. To enter, your tablet or smartphone needs to support AR features.

Just in time for spring the pCon.planner shows up with a new release. Here is an overview of the most important new features:

• Clear images without noise and artifacts
  Have you ever had a rendering that was a little “fuzzy” even after a long time of calculation? Noise can be suppressed with the new pCon.planner – during or after the image calculation.

• Planning & Construction –increased diversity & efficiency
  With pCon.planner version 8.1, there are countless ways to plan rungs for standard and round windows and to provide doors with new handle options such as plates, panic bars etc. In addition, you can now use the Room Elements as a free-floating dialog in quick access.

• Angles are no longer unknown
  With the new tool for measuring angles, you can now visualize and display angles in the planning and layout area.

• Share toolbars with colleagues
  For teamwork tailored to your job profile, individually created toolbars can now be exported and passed on to colleagues.

Of course that was not all. As always check our pCon.planner Help-Center for further details on the new functions. Have a look, it’s worth it!

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

No more noise in renderings? Yes, you read it right! Creating high-quality renderings is the supreme discipline of 3D planning. That’s why pCon.planner 8.1 comes with a powerful Denoiser that turns your pictures intro true works of art faster and easier. So that you can concentrate on the essentials: plan creatively!

On the left you can see the image without any changes and on the right side with Denoiser.

To realize the improvements we rely on Intel‘s open source denoising solution OIDN (Open Image DeNoiser). But why do you need a denoiser in a software like pCon.planner? In the case of synthetically generated images, “noise” is the result of the rendering method used. The OIDN filters out the so-called Monte Carlo Noise and reduces the number of samples required per pixel. This leads to a significantly shorter rendering time.

In close cooperation with our partners from Intel, we optimized the Denoiser for renderings created in pCon.planner. A scene was calculated until no more noise was visible. Then a second picture of this scene was taken, which was calculated only briefly and had a lot of noise. After that, a neural network could be trained that compared the two images and identified the details on the noisy picture that should be seen in the finished image. The result was a filter specifically for OSPRay generated content in pCon.planner. Denoising in the rendering dialog

By default, noise reduction is activated in the rendering dialog of pCon.planner 8.1. This allows you to stop the calculation earlier. As a post-processing tool, the filter is much faster and more efficient because it requires less processing time then running the rendering. Alternatively, you can disable it and switch it back on after the calculation process to compare the results.

Convinced? Then try the Denoiser and see with your own eyes what this new feature will do to your renderings! Download the pCon.planner 8.1 with all new features today.

*The download button is for the free standard version of pCon.planner. If you are a pCon.planner PRO or ME user, we ask that you wait to download the newest version until you receive the dialog prompt from pCon.planner informing you of an auto update.

impress brings movement to the screen. 3D models in PEC format and panoramas (JPG and PNG) can be easily shared and viewed in the browser thanks to our free web service impress. It brings your designs to life – in presentations, on websites and blogs.

Galant guarantor for lasting impressions: Panoramas convey the basic mood of the room, but also allow to view see the details.
Note: The loading time of the panorama depends on the speed of your internet connection.

Tips for the extra wow effect. 360° panoramas can be presented particularly impressively on smartphones and tablets – thanks to control via integrated motion sensors. In addition to fingertip control, these allow the 360° view to be rotated by rotating the device. This works independently of the operating system on Android and iOS devices.
If the panorama on your iPhone or iPad remains motionless take a look at the settings of “Safari” (standard browser on mobile Apple devices). In most cases, you’ll simply need to enable “Motion and Orientation Access”.
For a particularly immersive experience on the iPad or iPhone: allow “Motion and Orientation Access” in the Safari settings.