Why not see what your living room looks like with that couch before you buy it?
After months of viral videos and buzz surrounding ARKit, Apple’s Augmented Reality software solution announced in June, the official release of iOS 11 has brought with it a host of new AR apps and games.
Among them is an AR overhaul to Houzz’s View in my Room 3D furniture app, which now lets you test drive over 500,000 furniture and decor products in your house—virtually. Tapping ARKit’s surface detection and motion-tracking, the app lets you position products in your house to their exact specifications.
“We’ve created a true AR-enabled home design and shopping experience where you can experience the largest 3D product catalogue available in your home, and also buy the items you love directly on the Houzz app,” said Alon Cohen, Houzz President and co-founder, in a statement. “At Houzz, we’re focused on building tools that transform how you renovate and design your home and that deliver the single best experience for this industry.”
Customers can place multiple “true-to-scale” digital objects throughout their space to explore their decor fantasies to the fullest. The app autosaves previewed products to a shopping list that supports Apple Pay, so at the end, you’re just a click away from bringing those fantasies to life. If you’re just window shopping, Houzz retains designs so you can revisit them later.
Despite IKEA’s prominent feature in Apple’s launch demo, some were surprised to see View in my Room 3D appear in the App Store ahead of the IKEA Places app. The AR update of View in my Room 3D is currently only available on iOS, but Houzz has stated it will be available on Android next week.
The app has been available in an earlier form since May, garnering over 1 million users, but with the arrival of iOS 11 to build on the popularity of ARKit, it’s safe to assume a whole new generation of people are about to discover the everyday power of AR.
