It’s one of the 21st century’s biggest conundrums: fitting furniture into a home. That shelf you’ve been eyeing for the past three months is simply gorgeous, and you’re convinced that it’s the right addition to your crib, but the question is: how would it look like next to the couch and TV set, and more importantly, will there even be space for it?
Those are just some of the questions that IKEA is looking to answer with its latest digital creation – IKEA Place, a new augmented reality (AR) app that lets you preview how furniture will look like in your home, letting you make decisions before you splash your hard-earned cash, something we’re all guilty of after a full-day visit to IKEA.
Rolling out as part of Apple’s iOS 11 release, of which the tech giant’s new ARKit is a huge feature, this free iOS app uses a combo of 3D and true-to-scale models to give you an “accurate impression” of a piece of furniture, whether it’s a sofa, bed, foot stool, or coffee table.
How it works is really simple. The app uses your phone’s camera to scan a room, letting you place representations of IKEA’s furniture around your home, with the software smart enough to depict precise lighting and shadows. After which, you can reposition everything, from shifting items at different angles to looking underneath them.
The app covers more than 2,000 products, although not every piece of furniture from IKEA’s catalogue will be included. As of now, there’s no word if there’ll be an Android version via ARCore or if the app will even be launched in Singapore (the app is currently only available in the US).
One thing’s for certain though: this is a pretty damn cool piece of technology, and will probably revolutionise the way we buy furniture in the future. Here’s hoping that consumers in Singapore will be able to use it soon.
To check out IKEA products, visit www.ikea.com.sg.
Images: IKEA
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