Week 7

IKEA Place AR Application Response

Right now, first world countries, like the United States, are in the middle of a cultural transition from traditional brick and mortar retail to increasingly online shopping. Companies now must choose to either embrace online shopping or join the increasing number of bankrupt businesses like Sears, Toys R Us, and Payless.

As a consumer, this concerns me. When shopping in physical stores, I have the benefit of already knowing what the item feels like, its dimensions, and its true colors. There are a lot of items that you don’t necessarily need to see in person to purchase, like videogames or coffee mugs. However, I also don’t want to go through the hassle of ordering clothes, trying on at home, and then needing to send back what I didn’t like. It’s easier to go a store and already know how it feels like and what it looks like. I prefer to shop for clothes in person, because I can browse, try on, and buy clothes all in one day.

There is an area where shopping needs a technological improvement: furniture shopping. Earlier this year, I went out with my boyfriend to help him buy furniture for his apartment. While I could browse a variety of items online, I can’t properly see what a specific couch would look like in his apartment. I had to go to a physical furniture store to see what an item looks like in a room, and then we had to guess that it would look good inside his apartment. Eventually my boyfriend bought two great couches, but what we didn’t realize was that we underestimated how big they were! They’re still awesome, but the living room is more cramped than we expected.

This is where augmented reality technology really shines. If every furniture retailer had a working mobile app that could project its inventory via augmented reality, consumers would have a much better understanding of what those items would look like in their homes. IKEA has IKEA Place, which allows consumers to browse their catalog and augment 3D models of their furniture into the physical world.

I enjoyed using the IKEA Place app. It has a very straightforward interface and I didn’t have trouble understanding how to use its AR capability. It was quick to recognize its surroundings and then project the selected item. I liked how easy it was to move furniture, but I wish that the application explained how to rotate furniture because I had trouble figuring that out. I wish I knew about IKEA Place before my boyfriend bought all of his new furniture, because it would’ve made the furniture shopping process a lot easier. If Art Van furniture had a similar app, it would’ve been nice to see what the couches would’ve looked like in my boyfriend’s apartment before he bought them.

I only have a few criticisms of IKEA Place, one of which is that I don’t know how reliable the sizing of the 3D models is. The office chair 3D model inside the Science and Engineering hallway looks accurate to size, but some of the other furniture models look too large. While it’s possible that all of the models are accurate in size (I’m pretty short), I have no way to tell because I have to gauge its size through my phone’s screen. It might be smart to include some kind of calibration in the app. Something as simple as taking a blank piece of paper, telling the app its dimensions, and then putting it on the ground could help IKEA Place or similar apps augment 3D models that are more true to real life. They could also have an option to toggle a ruler or grid to physically see the furniture’s dimensions in feet or meters.

My other criticism of IKEA Place is to slightly improve its user interface. It’s nearly perfect, but I wish that while augmenting furniture, I could have a menu or some option on the side to change the furniture’s color. I also wish that it was easier to reset the furniture I have placed, because currently there is no obvious “clear all” button. Overall, I think IKEA’s app has a great user interface and its AR capability works pretty well.

I think this technology could easily extend to project independent artists’ work onto your wall. Last year, I bought a printed canvas of some art that I liked on RedBubble, but measuring it’s supposed dimensions and then pretending it’s up on your wall isn’t an accurate representation of what it would look like already hung up on a wall in real life. Imagine if an artist could scan their pottery or statue by scanning it from all directions, and then anyone could download a 3D model of the art through a 3^rd party application, and project it into their homes. It would help connect potential buyers with independent sellers. If I could’ve used an app like that, then I would’ve known in advance that the art I bought was smaller than I anticipated, and I would have bought a larger size. As time goes on, I’m excited to see all the ways augmented reality can be used to make my life, as a consumer, easier.