So you’re in the market for a new car, maybe the old one’s had it or you’re needing a bigger vehicle as the family grows? While you may be more concerned with the colour, how many seats it has, or how economical it maybe, one scenario that might be overlooked is where it’s going to be parked and whether it’ll fit. That may not be an issue if it’s being left on the street, but garages, parking spaces and driveways may cause more of an issue. So car shopping and information platform, Edmunds, has added and augmented reality (AR) feature to its iPhone app to help.
Developed by Edmunds on Apple’s ARKit, the feature leverages depth-sensing, area learning and motion-tracking technology to scan a local environment and create a 3D mesh. This 3D mesh is then used to determine if the 3D model of a vehicle can fit within that environment.
“Mobile-driven AR technology is evolving in ways that we can now start to leverage it to make car shopping easier and more convenient, similar to the disruption we’re seeing elsewhere in retail,” said Brock Stearn, Edmunds’ director of immersive technology. “By developing and making this industry-first AR feature available within our robust suite of car shopping tools, Edmunds continues to lead the way in empowering consumers to make informed decisions throughout their car shopping journey.”
For driveways and other areas without walls, users will be able to create “virtual walls” in order to provide the same functionality. Once an area is learned, the user can cycle through different vehicles to see which ones may safely fit or not. Specifications of nearly all US vehicles from 1990 to present will be supported.
The AR feature is available on the Edmunds app version 12.0 on the iPhone 6s and later. Users can find it in both the Tools menu and Vehicle Overview pages in the Edmunds app by tapping on the button labeled “Can It Fit?”
For the latest AR apps on iPhone, keep reading VRFocus.