of performance and, given our long as-
sociation with the sea, it’s the perfect
showcase for the company’s market-
leading products.”
AkzoNobel’s International yacht busi-
ness will also provide technical expertise
and, when required, will supervise the
application process during pit stops be-
tween races.
Extensive preparations for the race
have been taking place for several months
at the permanent Volvo Ocean Race
Boatyard in Lisbon, Portugal. When the
race begins later this year, a massive logistical operation will see the Boatyard
travel to all stopovers around the world.
Regarded as the pinnacle of professional, fully-crewed ocean racing, the
route for the 2017-18 race will visit some
of the most remote and inhospitable areas of the world’s oceans. The boats will
have to deal with extreme weather conditions, from freezing cold and raging gales
to sweltering heat, so the coatings need
to be as tough and durable as the sailors.
“We’re excited to be part of such a
thrilling and captivating sporting event,”
continued Slikta. “It’s the kind of extreme
test of high performance that our prod-
ucts are made for.”
Due to start in Alicante, Spain, on
October 22, the race is scheduled to fin-
ish in The Hague, the Netherlands, in
June 2018.
PPG Announces New
Digital Room Painter Tool
PPG has announced the launch of a new
virtual room painter tool that enables anyone searching for the perfect color to try
paint colors and palettes without visiting
a paint store or lifting a brush. Powered
by proprietary technology and created by
PPG’s award-winning developers, the tool
provides a realistic color preview and is
now available for popular PPG brands including the GLIDDEN, OLYMPIC, PPG
PAINTS and PITTSBURGH PAINTS &
STAINS lines.
“There are a number of digital paint
color tools available now, but none offers
quite the ease of use and realistic color
accuracy of the new PPG virtual room
painter,” said Scott Holman, PPG senior
information technology (IT) manager.
“PPG was among the first companies to
launch a virtual room painter tool, and
now we are thrilled to roll out a next-
generation version that is easier to use
and offers even better color application
to help consumers find inspiration and
accomplish their upcoming painting
projects.”
Users can test colors faster thanks to
intuitive “edge-detect” function-
ality, which quickly and auto-
matically finds and maps the
ends of a wall within a photo. So
long to the days of using tools to draw
lines or to select specific surfaces in pho-
tos to colorize them. Once users select
their color choices, they simply touch or
click onto their photo for quick digital
