Week 7

If you’re anything like me then you might understand the excitement and joy of walking around a furniture store to pick out new furniture.This process, however, could take you hours. You might have a general idea of what you want but most people find it difficult to decide on such an expensive investment without knowing or at least hoping that they made the right choice and that the piece will work perfectly in the space in terms of size, color, and the way it fits with the overall look of the space.

Making this decision is made even harder by the fact that one cannot see or easily visualize how this object will fit into the real-world space they want it to fill. You are either at a store seeing the object in person trying to recollect the way the space at home looked or you are at home with the space ordering the objects online trying to see if it would work well with the space by glancing back and forth between the screen and the space hoping that it would magically superimpose itself into the space.

Using virtual reality, this issue could be significantly minimized. Being able to use an application similar to the Ikea furniture app decreases the issues one might have when making these kinds of purchases. It allows the user to browse products, choose an item and then, using augmented reality, show the object in the space seen through the camera. This technology allows the customer to try the object out in the space without the hassle of having to buy and return large pieces of furniture if they don't work out.

This could potentially transform the interior design industry as well. It would make it easier for designers to accurately represent their designs visually and present them to clients. They could have a complete walk-through of the newly designed house and all the client has to do is walk around the house pointing the camera at the spaces and this would lead to an increase of customer satisfaction.