Introduction to IKEA’s Future-Living Lab
Inside a former lobster tank in Copenhagen’s meatpacking district, IKEA’s future-living lab, SPACE10, is mapping out how we’ll be living in the following ten to fifteen years. The lab is a hub of innovation, where a team of bioengineers, chefs, designers, and designers come together to assume the cities of the longer term and explore how IKEA can fit into them. Downstairs, a hydroponic farm grows fresh produce, including tomatoes and leafy greens, that are shared with a neighborhood restaurant. This unique setup allows the team to experiment with sustainable living and revolutionary technologies.
The Development of IKEA Place
It was at SPACE10 that IKEA developed its augmented reality app, IKEA Place. The app, which launched on iOS in September 2017 and is now available on Android, enables users to drop virtual furniture into their very own homes and examine it through their smartphone camera. This was certainly one of the primary apps to utilize ARKit, Apple’s augmented reality framework, which allows developers to overlay digital elements on the true world using the smartphone’s motion sensors and cameras. On the day of its release, Apple CEO Tim Cook touted Place as the longer term of shopping.
A History of Augmented Reality at IKEA
However, IKEA’s foray into augmented reality began long before the launch of IKEA Place. According to Bas van de Poel, a creative strategist at SPACE10, IKEA was certainly one of the primary corporations to experiment with augmented reality. In 2013, the corporate released an app called IKEA Catalogue, which gave users a glimpse of what IKEA Place would later grow to be. Although the app was a bit rough around the perimeters, it allowed users to scan a physical catalogue and place virtual furniture of their homes using the catalogue as a size guide.
The Power of 3D Models
At the center of IKEA’s augmented reality endeavors is an unlimited database of 3D models of virtually each item the corporate sells. Michael Valdsgaard, digital transformation lead at IKEA, notes that the corporate has loads of experience creating 3D models and making them look realistic. In fact, IKEA’s designers create these models as they develop recent products, and the corporate has been using computer-generated product images in its catalogues since 2006. This existing database of 3D models was a key think about the event of IKEA Place, because it allowed the corporate to populate the app with realistic and accurate virtual furniture.
From Concept to Reality
When Apple launched ARKit in June 2017, IKEA knew it had the tools it needed to bring its augmented reality vision to life. With its existing database of 3D models and the brand new ARKit toolkit, the corporate was in a position to create an app that might allow users to experience furniture in their very own homes before making a purchase order. As Guillaume Charny-Brunet, co-founder of SPACE10, puts it, "Overnight, something we had been interested by – augmented reality – became a reality for half a billion people."
Conclusion
IKEA’s journey into augmented reality is a testament to the corporate’s commitment to innovation and its willingness to experiment with recent technologies. From its early days with IKEA Catalogue to the launch of IKEA Place, the corporate has been on the forefront of AR development. As the technology continues to evolve, it would be exciting to see how IKEA and other corporations use augmented reality to shape the longer term of shopping and beyond. With its unique approach to innovation and its dedication to sustainability, IKEA is certain to stay a frontrunner on the earth of augmented reality and beyond.
