In 3D modeling for UNITY, 'normals' are basically the direction in which lights is reflected or blocked. If you are into Unity game design, consider visiting our gaming site:
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If the normals are pointing in the wrong direction for the application displaying the model, then the item will not look the way you are expecting. This test demonstrates how to know/verify if the normals of your 3D modeling project are correct for use in Unity 3D.