Yamaha-owned Boating Brands Buster, Yamarin and Cross Cruise into the Virtual World

The entire range of models from the Yamaha owned Buster, Yamarin, and Cross boat brands can now be explored in a new virtual environment.

Inha Works Ltd, the Finnish manufacturer, has launched a digital boat showroom displaying more than 40 models from the three brands that can be visited anytime, anywhere using a computer, mobile device or even virtual headset.

“We want to offer potential boat buyers the chance to get to know all our boats at their leisure in advance, regardless of time or place. We believe that users will find this service both useful and fun,” says Artturi Niittynen, director of sales and marketing at Inha Works.

The boats can be viewed in 360 degrees by rotating in all directions, both inside and out.

Designed to be rigged with Yamaha outboard engines, the fleet of 25 Buster aluminium boats, nine Yamarin boats and nine Cross boats is on show along the virtual piers.

The virtual environments aim to enable customers to familiarise themselves with the model and its features, including the appropriate Yamaha outboard for the model and experience what it is like to be onboard. Dealers can also use the 3D views to present the boat models in their showrooms.

“In the virtual worlds, the boats are already in the water, so they can be viewed as if standing on the pier from the front, side and above, as well as from inside the cabin. Because the boats are in their actual environment, the impression matches reality as closely as possible," says Niittynen.

Customers can move about the virtual piers by clicking with the mouse or tapping on the touchscreen. In addition, hotspots from which boats can be viewed are displayed on the piers as arrow symbols.

The i-symbol provides more detailed information about each boat, and when moving above the boat or into the cabin, the boat's interior can be viewed from all angles.

“The idea of offering these virtual worlds started with tools that we use internally to present and research new boat concepts. It was a natural move to extend the interactive presentation format for use by our dealers and customers," Niittynen explains.

The first versions of the Buster, Yamarin and Cross virtual worlds are now available.