Customers of furniture retailer Ikarus.de can "beam" chairs and other furniture into their own homes using augmented reality. This creates a whole new shopping experience.
There's something magical and fun about it: In the Ikarus.de online shop, selected furnishings can be projected into the room in their original size using the camera of an iPad or an iPhone.
The special thing about the technical implementation is that shop visitors do not need to download a mobile app. As the augmented reality (AR) application is browser-based, there is no major hurdle to overcome when using it. Shop visitors "conjure up" the furniture three-dimensionally in their surroundings using augmented reality. At other furniture retailers such as Otto's Yourhome, the augmented reality function can only be used in a mobile app.
Only 23 products on Ikarus.de are still "AR-enabled". This means that you have to search for them if you want to see the AR effect on a product.
It was a conscious decision to only start with a limited number at first, says Nina Stocklöw, Senior Marketing Manager at the e-commerce agency Phoenix Media. The Stuttgart-based service provider developed the AR experience for its client Ikarus.de. "We deliberately opted for the minimal viable product approach for the implementation," explains Stocklöw. "Minimal viable product" means that the product was implemented with the minimum requirements and features. The first step was to see how users would accept the AR function.
Basis: the Apple AR Kit
The technology for the AR experience at Ikarus.de is the AR platform "Apple AR Kit". The corresponding file format for augmented reality is called "usdz". Apple developed it together with Pixar, a specialist in computer animation and computer-generated imaging. Developers can use it to create 3D models for augmented reality.
According to the retailer, the number of visits to the Ikarus online shop via iOS devices is quite high, which is why it made sense to use Apple's AR Kit2. (Apple only recently released the AR Kit3.) However, this also results in the restriction that the AR function of Ikarus.de on the product detail pages only works with the Safari browser and with an iOS device on which version iOS 12 or higher is installed.
The first AR models have been live in the shop since mid-February 2019. Wilberg explains that the feature is particularly popular for high-priced products. Augmented reality is a help when making a purchase decision. More models will be available in 3D in the future. "We want to implement as many products as possible in AR," emphasises Wilberg.
Source: Onlinepc
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