IKEA built an augmented reality application to help customers with visualizing how a piece of furniture would fit in their space. They wanted to create an easier shopping experience that minimizes the stress of purchasing new home items and realizing they are not the right fit for the space.
Overall I enjoy this use of augmented reality. It quickly can filter out things that would not work in a space and the concept is sound. At this point, my suggestions for improvement on the app is quality based. First issue is some pieces of furniture tended to “float” in the phone’s frame rather than being fully static while others seemed fine. While it is mostly intuitive to use, a “how to” guide for users could be very beneficial as there is no direction on how to use each function in the app. Lastly, if the frame is interrupted the images corrupt or distort a bit. But aside from that I think it’s a useful tool for a furniture company to use, especially in the world of online shopping.
