When it comes to home decorating the colour that looks great on the colour sampler or inside the can might not look as great painted on your walls. A lot of factors can affect how a particular colour looks in the home, so Sherwin-Williams have created an augmented reality (AR) tool called ColorSnap Visualizer to help users make decisions.
The ColorSnap Visualizer has a feature called InstantPaint, which allows customers to try out various colour options, select lighting, create custom palettes and share the results with friends and family to get a second opinion.
The app uses the smartphone camera to recognise the walls of a three-dimensional space. Then customers can simply tap on a particular wall and select one of 1,500 Sherwin-Williams colours to see what the wall would look like painted in those colours.
“Using emerging AR technology, this new feature virtually transforms a space before picking up a brush,” said Meghan Vickers, Sherwin-Williams e-business marketing director. “Instant Paint provides a fast, seamless way for homeowners and professionals to build confidence during color selection.”
Sherwim-Williams have been operating for 150 years as a specialist retailer for paint and painting supplies. The company now joins a growing number of retailers who are attempting to engage with customers and provide additional value by using immersive technology.
Other features of the app include the colour match facility, where users can select a photo, tap anywhere on that photo and get a colour match with a Sherwin-Williams paint colour.
The ColorSnap Visualizer uses the ARKit and ARCore toolkits to create accurate maps of 3D space and apply paint colours to the required walls quickly and accurately. The app is available to North American customers and is compatible with the iPhone 6 or newer running iOS 11. For Android users, they will need a Google Pixel or other ARCore-equipped smartphone.
Further information on ColorSnap Visualizer can be found on the Sherwin-Williams website. Continued coverage of AR in retail will be here on VRFocus.