When augmented reality (AR) first hit the scene, it was mainly regarded as a novelty and relegated to games and entertainment. However, as AR technology grows more sophisticated, it has started reshaping many industries, including interior design. AR solutions for interior design can save designers time and increase client satisfaction while making the process of decorating a room or a home more accessible than ever.
If you’re an interior designer, it’s time to take a look at what AR can do for your business.
The number one benefit of AR for interior design is that it allows you to project your design ideas directly onto your client’s space. That is, AR solutions let designers place 3D models of home decor and furniture in a real environment, giving clients a chance to see how their room or house will look when it’s furnished. All the client needs to do is scan their home space with their phone’s camera, and the 3D visualization of the design will appear in the target environment. The higher the quality of the rendering of 3D models, the more realistic the furniture and objects will look.
The furniture and home decor company Dekoruma created an AR experience for their clients involving printed postcards with AR content that showcased their work. When clients scanned the postcards of house layouts with a custom AR app, fully designed 3D versions of the space appeared on top of the postcards.
This is a great example of how augmented reality can upgrade traditional interior design catalogs and help design studios create immersive experiences for their customers. You can find more information about how AR takes home visualization to a new level here.
Not only does AR technology allow designers to show clients what a pink couch would look like in their living room, but it can also show them exactly how that specific West Elm tufted settee they’ve been eyeing will look against their south wall. With more and more furniture designers uploading 3D renderings of their products and launching their own AR-powered apps for furniture placement, interior designs can be as specific as clients’ requests. This trend is growing for a reason — the AR and 3D e-commerce platform Vertebrae reported that, of 201 consumers surveyed, 78% preferred to interact with AR, rather than watch a 30-second video.
In addition to helping design studios personalize their customer experience, AR furniture placement apps enhance marketing for furniture businesses. Some of the most popular furniture placement apps include IKEA Place, iStaging, DecorMatters and RoOomy. You can find a list of top home furniture placement apps here.
AR renderings can yield higher closure rates for design firms than sketches and mood boards. When clients can see how a design will look in their finished space, they can invest with more confidence than when they have to interpret a set of drawings and concepts.
“AR/VR helps to remove some of the fear and anxiety that a client might have about committing to a design plan that they are unsure of,“ Barabara McInnis of Barbara Hayman Designs shared with the Designers Today website.
What’s more, interaction with home decor elements and design customization builds an emotional connection, which helps drive sales. AR helps design studios create a level of transparency previously unseen in the industry. When clients feel in control of the process and have an opportunity to explore every tiny detail of their design project in 3D, they’re more likely to make a purchase.
When creating 3D renderings to show to clients, design firms also create a new virtual showroom for their design. Even if a client decides not to move forward with the design, you now effectively have photos of the finished design anyway, which can be used to build your portfolio to showcase to the next set of potential clients.
The biggest challenge to bringing AR rendering into your design firm is the learning curve. It can take a significant amount of time to learn how to use professional AR rendering software. Even experienced designers have expressed frustration with how long it took them to adapt to AR technology.
Another big downside is that, as of now, there is no one single industry standard program for AR design rendering. This means that to find a program that works for your firm, you’ll likely have to try several to evaluate the pros and cons of each.
AR design is still in its nascent phase, and although vendors like Amazon and West Elm are investing in creating 3D renderings of their products, many more vendors have not yet adopted the technology. This means that you may not be able to access every item you’d like to use in your AR designs right away.
However, these obstacles haven’t stopped the growing trend for AR use in the field of interior design.
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Learning the ropes can be challenging when it comes to AR. You’ll want to start by researching the AR design apps available on the market. Next, you’ll need to play with the app’s functionally and learn how to use its tools, either through self-led tutorials or with the help of a software expert.
Once you’ve mastered the program and developed some example designs, you can start showing off your new AR-enabled design process to your clients.
Postindustria is here to save you time by offering to develop AR solutions custom-fit for your interior design firm’s needs. Fill out our contact form to book a strategy session to discuss your custom project with us.
