The days of having to guess whether that new couch will fit into your living room are just about over. At least for Wayfair customers that is. The popular home shopping website has just introduced a new feature for its companion app that allows users to digitally render products into their own home.
How It Works
The Wayfair companion app accomplishes this by using Google’s ARCore technology. Simply select a piece of furniture from the app, press the “View in room 3D” button, and watch how the piece is digitally rendered onto your phone, complete with a backdrop of your surroundings. This new technology gives the Wayfair companion app almost as much utility as cell phone spy software.
The app also gives you the option to rotate the digital piece, giving you the flexibility to see how it complements the room from every angle. Wayfair isn’t the only home goods company to get in on the AR craze either. IKEA, Target, Amazon, and even Ebay, are all utilizing AR to some degree. Take Ebay for example. The online marketplace giant uses AR to instruct it’s sellers on how to properly package and ship their products. And as AR becomes more mainstream, you can bet even more companies will start using the platform.
While all this may seem like a gimmick to get customers to use the companion app, augmented reality actually solves a very important issue for online retailers. The issue? Customers usually prefer to see a product in person before they decide on buying it. This is especially true for home good stores where a single piece of furniture can cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. But thanks to AR, Wayfair has found a way to turn a typical weakness for online retailers into a strength.
Are you a fan of augmented reality? Have you ever used AR for anything other than entertainment purposes? If so, let us know in the comment section below.
