Apple And Ikea Are Now AR Partners, Unlikely Alliance

When it comes to forming partnerships regarding augmented reality technology, a furniture seller might be at the bottom of most people’s lists. Apple is the exception since it was recently revealed that the popular Swedish furniture giant Ikea is planning on offering customers AR services related to furniture placement. In doing so, Apple signed the death sentence of several AR furniture businesses.

The news came in a recent interview that Digital.di had with Michael Valdsgaard, the digital transformation manager at Ikea. According to him, customers will be able to choose from over 500 3D-rendered furniture pieces, which will then be superimposed on the area that customers want to place the furniture in.

Buyers will be browsing for the furniture on the app, which will scan the areas of the house beforehand in order to provide an AR impression that’s close to reality. Once the customers made their choice, they can buy the furniture on the app, though, it’s worth noting that not every furniture chosen might be the one that the customers will get at any given day.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been gushing over the potential of AR for months, saying that he’s so excited about the prospect that he wants to scream. Among the examples he provided of markets that could benefit from the technology that his company is developing just happened to include furniture shopping.

Speaking of which, it would appear that Apple is not exactly the first company to blend AR and furniture shopping, Tech Crunch reports. In fact, there has been a thriving community of small businesses in the niche market, which included several apps on the Apple App Store.

Thanks to Apple’s partnership with Ikea, a lot of these businesses are expected to go under, largely because of the technological limitations they encounter. With an increase in usage, demand for more 3D models and spatial calculations will be needed, something that a small outfit is going to have difficulty providing.