Have you bought a new home and clueless about how to design the interior of your home? Or, are you planning to renovate your home with new furniture? We have news for you! The interior design and architecture industry is in the process of being completely revamped as new and innovative technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) have entered this field. These days, interior designers are finding new ways to satisfy your interior designing needs. And one such way is by using AR, VR and MR.
All these years, customers were assisted and advised by the interior designers with the help of 2D drawings and verbal explanations. This has served well, but of course, there was room for a lot of communication errors. This, in turn, sometimes, had led to disappointment and confusion among the buyers. Even when the communication between the interior designer and the customer was fine and both the parties were able to express their vision properly, there was always this possibility that the outcome will not be as expected. Maybe the placement of the furniture will go wrong or the colour will not be perfect. This is exactly where AR, VR and MR in interior design come into the picture.
VR in Interior Design
Out of the three realities, the most commonly known is virtual reality. It immerses the user completely in 360° of visual content so that it can create an impression that the user is in a different environment. This is achieved with the help of VR head-mounted displays (HMD) like Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard that turn mobile devices into VR devices or VR specific devices like HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Applications of VR:
- Doing It Right This Time (DIRTT) is a traditional design firm that is leveraging VR. In order to provide virtual walkthroughs of proposals, this company makes use of Oculus Rift headsets. If you are an interior design company, incorporating VR in your presentations can prove to be extremely effective, as you get to show your client the finished product before they spend a penny. And if you are a customer, this can be a lot beneficial for you as well. Because, you can see how the product will actually look like in your room, before you buy it. This will save both the party’s time and money down the road.
- Decorilla, a design firm, makes use of VR so that they can communicate with their clients in style. As the firm operates only online, what their clients do is send in their room dimensions along with images. As a reply, the designers send them a digital proposal along with a branded Google Cardboard viewer. With this, the clients can have a look at a 3D walkthrough of their new furnished room. All they need to do is insert their phone into the viewer. Interesting, isn’t it?
AR in Interior Design
What AR basically does is allow you to use your phone to overlay the physical world with virtual elements. So how can you use it? Well, all you need is your mobile phone and an AR app. And you will be able to see how the furniture that you chose would look like in your living room.
Applications of AR:
IKEA is a Swedish furniture giant that has a long history of adopting the latest technologies in order to make their stores better and their customers happier. And they have done just that with their IKEA Place AR Catalogue App which is available at a completely free of cost. What the app does is not less than any magic! All you have to do is see the catalogue, make your furniture choice, put it on the floor and point your tablet or phone at your favourite item in the catalogue. This is when you can experience the magic. The product displayed on the catalogue will spring to life, 3D and full size! You can walk around the furniture and rotate it by making use of your device controls. According to a report, by using this cool AR app, IKEA has been able to increase its sales from 27.6% in the year 2012 to 35.1% in the year 2016.
How an AR/VR App Can Benefit Businesses?
- Amaze and satisfy customers
- Provide customized 3D experiences
- Help in staying ahead of competitors
- Increase the rate of customer retention
How an AR/VR App Can Benefit the Customers?
- Choose and try different items remotely
- Able to make more informed buying decisions
- Explore new ways to try and purchase products
- Entertaining and amazing buying experience
Mixed Reality in Interior Design
Mixed Reality is like AR on steroids! It needs specific devices like Microsoft Hololens. With this, you get to combine virtual and physical elements realistically as well as seamlessly without markers (print-outs or brochures).
If you compare MR with AR and VR, it can be said that MR is still in the process of getting perfected. Innovative and talented developers in Microsoft are already testing how it can be used to incorporate the best elements of AR and VR interior design apps. It combines the 360° nature of VR with the physical integration of AR. This allows for a more dynamic form of catalogue apps as well as visualizations without any time-intensive and expensive development. With MR, you can add multiple hypothetical pieces. However, you can’t remove actual, physical elements from the view. This makes the Mixed Reality apps in development best suited for smaller-scale re-arrangements or empty rooms in a new home.
In conclusion, it can be said that with AR, VR and MR, there will be no nagging questions such as “What if it was black?” and “Will it fit?” Now that you know how these latest technologies can help you in decking up your dream home, it’s time that you make use of one. And if you are an interior design company, it’s high time that you make use of such AR and VR apps to take your business to the next big level.
Digital Aptech specializes in developing exciting and interesting AR and VR apps. Thinking about creating one for your interior design company? Give us a call and see how we can help you!
