Now Shop at IKEA in Virtual Reality
IKEA's new VR shopping experience is the next best thing to improve shopper's retail experience. The new app, to be made available on HTC Vive, will work as litmus test to discover new ways to transform the retail experience.
The pilot that has been allowed on the Valve's game distribution platform, Steam, in collaboration with HTC, will allow the customers to test new kitchen solutions before they make a purchase.
"Australians are known for embracing the latest technology and innovations, so virtual reality has the potential to transform the way people interact with our products in the home", Tim Prevade, range manager for IKEA Australia said. "We look forward to hearing our customers' feedback on the experience as we continue to explore this space in the future."
Taking to an all new level, the Swedish furniture company will allow the viewers to alter the color of furnishings and to shrink themselves so that they are able to move around. IKEA said that they have been testing new technologies for the last few years before zeroing in on VR as the next best step forward.
Since this is the first time the company has ventured into VR, they encourage feedback from their customers so that these steps can be incorporated at different development stages.
"Virtual reality is developing quickly and in five to ten years it will be an integrated part of people's lives," says Jesper Brodin, managing director at IKEA of Sweden. "We see that virtual reality will play a major role in the future of our customers. For instance, someday, it could be used to enable customers to try out a variety of home furnishing solutions before buying them."
Even though the app is fairly limited, when it comes to options, it is safe to assume that one day IKEA's app will be all you need to remotely redecorate your home completely on VR.
