Apple have begun making a push towards augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology recently. With news that SteamVR would be supporting Mac platforms, and the iPhone 8 expected to have advanced AR capabilities, Apple have teamed with well-know furniture store IKEA to create an AR shopping app to show off some of Apple’s new focus.
The app is designed to help customers in choosing what kind of furniture and accessories they wish to buy for their home. By using an iPhone camera to view the customer’s home, and overlaying the image of the furniture in question over the top, it is possible to get an impression of what the sofa, or table or lamp would like like when placed in the home, allowing customers to make more informed buying decisions.
Michael Valdsgaard, leader of digital transformation at IKEA Systems said This will be the first augmented reality app that will enable you to make buying decisions,” Valdsgaard also indicated plans to include e-commerce features in to the app in future, “Ideally, you could put a sofa in your home with the help of the app, and then with one click add it in the shopping cart on the e-commerce site.”
When the app is launched later on in 2017, IKEA hope to have between 500-600 products available for users to browse, and the company intends for new product lines to appear in the app first before they are launched in stores.
Valdsgaard was enthusiastic about the possibilities provided by Apple’s investment in AR and is of the opinion that is had the potential to become: “The largest AR platform in the world overnight. I think that augmented reality and virtual reality will be a total game changer for retail in the same way as the internet,” said Valdsgaard. “Only this time much faster.”
VRFocus will bring you further news on Apple’s AR projects as it becomes available.