This article was published on March 10, 2015

Use augmented reality to see thousands of products in your home before you buy them


Use augmented reality to see thousands of products in your home before you buy them

Israeli augmented reality startup Cimagine Media has announced a tie up with Shop Direct, the company behind online retail brands including Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com. The deal will allow visitors to those sites to see what thousands of products will look like in their homes using markerless augmented reality (AR).

Cimagine’s technology scans your room then places a 3D model of the item you’re interested into the environment. You can them reposition it where you like and walk around to get a look at the different angles.

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You can try it for yourself now by downloading the Littlewoods Home iOS app, then visiting the Littlewoods site in Safari or Chrome and clicking the “View at home” button beneath the item. If you’re outside the UK and Ireland, check out Cimagine’s own app.

I tested the technology out by placing a $4,599 Eames Lounger from Cimagine’s demo page into my rather less glamorous apartment. While the high resolution AR object is noticeably clearer than the video it’s dropped into, the app works quickly and did a good job of rendering the chair smoothly as I walked around it.

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A lot of people will still want to see furniture they’re planning on buying for real, but the option to how it might fit in with your current decor using AR is definitely handy. For one thing, it’s convinced me to replace my own ratty old office chair.

Cimagine | Littlewoods

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