Bathrooms.com launches augmented reality app

Bathrooms.com (www.bathrooms.com) has launched an augmented reality app for bathrooms.

The app allows you to virtually place life-sized 3D bathroom furniture anywhere and even walk around it as if it was in your home.

This virtual showroom brings together the convenience of online shopping and the security of purchasing products in a store.

Lucy Powell, buying director, said: “One of the most annoying things about buying furniture is that it sometimes doesn’t look the same in reality as it did in your imagination. Despite the use of images, videos and other multimedia it is still very difficult for a consumer to clearly see what it would be like to have a product in their home. This app gives people the chance to actually walk around a product prior to purchase and see how the colours and materials would work with their existing décor.”

The app is free to download from the app store and works on any iOS device that is connected to the internet.

Users can customise the colour and type of furniture and even order it right there. The app also allows you to take photos of what each piece looks like in any given space, and share these via social channels and email.

The “marker” is important because it gives each product a real-world location, enabling you to walk around the product in 3D and look at it from all angles or even zoom in and out, just like you would with a physical object. This helps customers to clearly see if a product will fit into the space they have and work with their existing décor.

Ian Monk, founder and chief executive officer of Bathrooms.com, said: “We are thrilled to be the first to launch this augmented reality app in the bathrooms space. Buying online has always felt the lack of showrooms experience, but now with our new app we can provide an experience to the customer that is actually better than a traditional showroom. I feel strongly that this technology will revolutionise the way consumers browse and purchase online and is certainly the future of online retailing.”

Source : Builders Merchant's News
www.buildersmerchantsnews.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/8371/Bathrooms_app_proves_augmented_reality_is_the_future_of_retail_.html