Imagine this situation: You finally found the perfect living room sofa, so you eagerly click the purchase button – only to discover upon its arrival: The furniture doesn’t fit in your space. You are left with two choices: Either you get the couch you’ve always wanted, or you get rid of the space it doesn’t fit into. 

Augmented reality will change this situation forever 

With augmented reality (AR), you can now visualize how your stuff will look in your room before you commit to buying. This technology takes the guesswork out of online shopping by helping you visualize true-to-scale furnishings inside your room through your smartphone’s camera. Here’s how some of your favorite retailers are using this technology within free smartphone apps to help you shop with confidence (and stop buying stuff that doesn’t quite fit). 

Place by IKEA 

The IKEA Place app lets you create your own personalized look and experience by allowing you to shop through thousands of pieces of furniture. Simply point your mobile camera at any empty area of your floor, select the product you want to try, and place it anywhere you like. You can then choose to add other products and find out how they all work together in a space. This app also provides a visual search function that lets you point your camera at any furniture and find the IKEA item it resembles. 

See It In Your Space by Target 

Target’s app (available for iOS and Android) is not only a great place to order groceries and household items on the go, but also includes an augmented reality feature called See It in Your Space that lets you preview items in your home. If you’re shopping for something big like a new bedroom set, look for the AR icon in the bottom left corner of the product’s image, or see all the augmented reality-enabled products at once by searching “See It in Your Space.” Your phone can now be your decorator! See a virtual version of any piece of furniture you want to buy, try it in different rooms, and pick the color and finish that you want. 

View Your Room by Amazon 

The Amazon Shopping app now has a function that lets you preview products using augmented reality. The feature, named View in Your Room, lets you virtually design your space using sized-to-scale products. Do it by simply tapping the camera icon to the right of the search bar in the app, scrolling down to “View in Your Room,” and selecting a product to preview. This feature works on any iPhone 6S or newer model, as well as any Android 7.0 or newer model. 

View in Room 3D by Wayfair 

With the Wayfair app, you can now see your new lamp or bookshelf in your home with the “View In Room 3D” feature. Simply tap the “View in Room 3D” button beneath the item image and you’ll see it be unboxed right before your eyes. You can move it anywhere in the room (as long as it’s anchored to the floor or a table), rotate it as needed, and walk around to view it from every angle. 

Custom Furniture Visualizer by Anthropologie 

Anthropologie’s Custom Furniture feature (which is available for iOS Devices only) allows you to create custom pieces for your home to see how they will look before you purchase them. To use this feature, first go to the Furniture category and click the Customize option. Then choose from hundreds of designs, materials, colours, and finishes to quickly personalise the item. After you’ve completed your design, scroll down and click the “Preview in a Room” button. You get the best of both worlds with an in-app visualizer that allows you to see how bright colors will look in your room. It also lets you think about the shadows the pieces may cast. 

See It In Your Home by The Home Depot 

To comfortably view product catalogues in your home, use the augmented reality feature in The Home Depot app. Its new augmented reality feature allows you to use your phone’s camera to have a full, realistic view of your purchase immediately. This feature is available for a wide range of home and furniture items, including couches, coffee tables, lamps, and even little objects such as vases. You can access it by tapping the “See it in Your Home” button beneath the product photo. The app is compatible with iOS and Android devices. 

Tulfa – Creating Immersive Experiences 

Tulfa creates for its distinctive clients extremely accessible and immersive digital experiences. We combine unmatched experience and specialized capabilities, powered by the latest technologies to deliver ground-breaking work. Tulfa delivers continuous innovation to its clients to improve their performance and create lasting value for them.   

To know more, talk to us today.