Trekking to IKEA is often an exercise in futility. The armchairs and bookcases never look as perfect in your cramped apartment as they do in the color-coordinated showrooms. After 15 minutes, you're tired and overwhelmed and you can't remember what you even came for.
IKEA's 2014 catalog aims to ease some of that angst by letting you plan ahead with its augmented reality feature.
Simply place the catalog in the spot where you're considering adding a new piece of furniture, scan the catalog with the augmented reality app on your mobile device and select the desired item.
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The augmented reality feature then projects the item into your home by layering it over a real-time view of your room captured through your device's camera. The app also lets you experience the scale of the objects in relation to your living space, as you can see in the video above.
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IKEA's 2013 catalog included smartphone integration, but only featured videos and photo galleries that could be accessed via an app by scanning the catalog's pages.
This year's catalog also includes several highly anticipated new releases, such as the Lövbacken table, a revival of the company's original flat-pack table produced in 1956.
The Lövbacken side table, originally sold by Ikea as the Lövet in 1956, will be making a come-back into stores in August (Click Image To Enlarge
The 2014 catalog will be available in print, as well as on iPhone, iPad and Android.
Do you think IKEA's concept for an augmented reality catalog will catch on with other furniture sellers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
COMMENTARY: I have seen augmented reality apps used in the fashion retail industry for virtual reality dressing rooms. Users can see how a piece of apparel looks on them without having to go to the change room. One of the issues that I see with the app is the lighting differences between the IKEA furniture item and the room where that item will be placed. Subtle changes in lighting can make the item look out of place or mismatched with other furniture in that room. However, I do see some merits for this type of app. I don't know if scale is taken into consideration, or how it is handled, so simply superimposing an item in a room does not anser the question, whether there will be sufficient room for that item or how it will affect the overall room.
Courtesy of an article dated August 6, 2013 appearing in Mashable
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