Virtual measurement tool set to be first app to exploit Apple’s AR technology
Mixed reality start up DigitalBridge has announced a new measurement tool which is set to be one of the first apps to exploit the potential of Apple’s latest Augmented Reality (AR) technology.
Rather than having to measure, say, a room with a standard tape measure, the innovative measurement tool called Survey, uses AR technology to allow users to quickly, accurately and easily create a floor plan of a room – making it particularly handy for estate agents and DIYers.
The app has been developed to work in conjunction with DigitalBridge’s forthcoming design visualiser, which uses AR, computer vision and machine learning to allow customers to “try out” new kitchen, bedroom and bathroom designs in their own rooms.
DigitalBridge has developed the new AR applications to help overcome the problem of the “imagination gap”, which occurs when consumers walk away from purchases because they can’t imagine what products will look like once they get home.
New research commissioned by the Manchester-based company has found that more than half of homeowners (51%) have decided against a kitchen, bedroom or bathroom renovation project in the last year, because of this issue.
Says David Levine, CEO of DigitalBridge:
“Being unable to visualise what a new and expensive bathroom or kitchen would actually look like in their home has been a long-standing frustration for consumers – and a commercial challenge for retailers.
“That’s why we have developed Survey, and our upcoming Aspect design visualiser tool, to help transform the shopping experience for consumers.
“A new kitchen, bedroom or bathroom is usually one of the biggest investments people make after buying their home, so our AR technology essentially brings the showroom to customers so they can try out the products they like in accurately measured designs of their rooms.”
While virtual reality headsets from Oculus and others have yet to go mainstream, hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads in circulation could be set to morph into consoles bridging the real and imaginary worlds together as Apple gets set to announce tomorrow (September 12th 2017) that its ARKit technology will be integrated into the latest iOS 11 operating system.
DigitalBridge’s Survey will also soon be available for Android devices that support ARCore.
While still a relatively young company, DigitalBridge has quickly become established as an innovative retail technology business, having received investment from John Lewis and innovation specialist L Marks.
For more information about DigitalBridge go to: http://digitalbridge.eu/
You can see a short YouTube video of how Digital Bridge’s Survey works here:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxKBVOSFcYg&w=560&h=315]
