Augmented Reality & Home Interior Design

Written by Madison Cole

For those interested in mobile technology, it may be hard to believe it’s been less than a year since Apple and Google introduced augmented reality platforms to developers. A lot of headline-generating AR apps have already come out, and it’s pretty clear that we’re still in the early stages of the process. Last month, for instance, we learned that Apple would be leading an “introduction to ARKit” at the Game Developers Conference. Presumably, the goal here is to expand the number of developers who are comfortable using the platform to put out augmented reality apps. Eventually, this might be fairly significant for those of us who enjoy home interior design.

For most of this year the focus is likely to remain on games, which are in some respects the most exciting AR-related products. For example, many have been awaiting new AR games that would imitate the very popular Pokémon GO, and none have come out. There has also been some anticipation of playful casino games making it into this arena. Online casinos have already embraced 3D formats and video slots – a trend that doesn’t look likely to abate any time soon, and which sets up augmented reality adaptation quite nicely. And there are plenty more categories of interest as well. Sports games, tabletop board games, innovative shooters, etc. will all likely be focal points for AR developers in the coming months.

Design Related Apps

While gaming will get the headlines though, increasing focus on AR development is also going to mean that we continue to see design-related apps being released. Many were surprised to see apps like these, most notably from IKEA, among some of the very first AR apps. But there are actually several excellent apps geared toward interior design, and coming from companies like Anthropologie, Pottery Barn, and Houzz, among others. For the most part, these apps are designed to help us visualize furniture in our homes, such that some of the trial and error process of furnishing a home is done away with. In the best cases, the AR renderings are actually very convincing, and provide a pretty clear picture of what to expect.

New Approaches to Design

That said, these apps could stand to improve as well, and likely will. With other design-related apps focused more on measuring space and mapping out areas, it’s easy to imagine full-fledged combinations that effectively diagram entire rooms and allow us to toy with all different kinds of furniture and decoration. This sort of evolution in the apps, again, won’t get the same attention as some of the anticipated gaming developments headed our way. But for those who are interested in new approaches to design, or even those who have already made use of augmented reality in this regard, there’s probably a lot to look forward to.

We may well look back in a few years and wonder how we ever decorated rooms without our smartphones. In the meantime, the team at KTJ Design Co. is here to help. Sign up for our newsletter and get The Inside Story directly to your in-box.

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