Get excited, Earthlings who like the Earth: IKEA just announced a new program to sell energy-saving solar panels in each of its 17 UK stores. This means that with a little bit more effort than it takes to purchase a set of Billy bookcases, Brits can be doing their part to bring the world a little closer to sustainable energy.
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…Because when you think of Britain, you think of sunny skies. Ikea has started selling solar panels for residential rooftops at its stores in the United Kingdom. The furniture outfit’s move into home solar systems (as opposed to sun-powered lighting) was apparently made attractive due to the drop in cost of solar panels, and Ikea’s initial offering will set you back £5,700 (about $9,300). For your money, you get a 3.36 kW system, in-store consultation, installation, maintenance and energy monitoring service. Ikea’s got plans to sell solar panels in other locales, but according to Ikea Chief Sustainability Officer Steve Howard, such expansion will be done market by market (so don’t expect a worldwide rollout). Hey Steve, might we suggest your next store to start selling solar be someplace with more than two weeks of sunshine per year?
Filed under: Household
Source: Business Insider
Furniture giant IKEA has always provided a fun shopping experience, where kids can have their kids meals and play time at Småland, while the meatballs are always a top draw. You can practically spend an entire day there with your family while the whole bunch of you shops for different bits and pieces that you think would fit into the new home. Well, considering how times have changed, IKEA too, wants to keep up to date by offering Augmented Reality (AR) technology which makes it easier for customers to shop.
Needless to say, this AR tech would require shoppers to own a compatible smartphone, but then again, who does not have a smartphone these days? Apart from that, the mobile app would also allow customers to “test” furniture from the comfort of their own home, now how about that? We will be able to see the most extensive ever use of Augmented Reality (AR) by IKEA when they roll out the new mobile catalogue later this month.
AR will be used to place its products into customers’ rooms, letting them find the right fit, and when August 25th rolls around on the calendar, you will find the app launched in the Apple App Store and Google Play. The 2014 IKEA Catalogue app will enable customers to literally try out 90 products for size (of course, they will also take shape, color and positioning into consideration as well) in their own homes. The app will rely on the catalogue to judge the approximate scale of the furnishings, where it will measure the size of the catalogue itself when laid on the floor in the camera, resulting in an augmented reality image of the furnishings in order for it to appear as correct as possible in the room. This enables customers to check out just how different IKEA sofas, chairs, beds, bookcases, chests of drawers and desks will look like in their rooms virtually, all through your smartphone camera.
Of course, there will still be a print version of the IKEA catalog, but AR tech is definitely breathing new life into the furniture shopping experience!
[ IKEA relies on Augmented Reality technology to make furniture shopping easier for customers copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
IKEA’s new 2014 catalog app lets you arrange virtual furniture in your home using augmented reality. You still have to put it together yourself eventually, though.
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In 2013, Ikea took the plunge into the wide world of augmented retail reality, when it released a companion app to go with its catalog — to give Swedish furniture fans access to bonus digital content related to products shown on its pages. A new version of the app is now upon us, and with it comes new AR functionality. Namely, users can now see what certain pieces of furniture (or at least a digital version of said furniture) will look like in a given room. For the feature to work, users simply need to scan one of the 90 AR-enabled product pages with the app, and toss the catalog on the floor where they want to see the digital version of the product appear. Then, the app superimposes a 3D model of that bit of decor on your mobile device’s screen, allowing users to assure their would-be furniture will maintain perfect feng shui without, you know, having to actually move stuff around.
Filed under: Software
Via: Geek.com
Source: Apple App Store, Google Play
While IKEA might be primarily known as a manufacturer of furniture, recently the company has begun to embrace technology by offering up an augmented reality catalogue in which those reading the catalogue will be able to scan the magazine with their smartphone and the accompanying app, and be able to get a better idea of the furniture without having to pop by the IKEA store themselves. Well it looks like with their 2014 IKEA Catalogue app, the furniture manufacturer will be taking this to the next level by allowing users to get an idea of how a particular piece of furniture will look like in their home. (more…)
IKEA Unveils New Augmented Reality Catalogue original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Ikea’s messed around with augmented reality
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Let’s not beat around the bush: We all watch porn. OK? OK. And it turns out that while we’re doing that, we’re getting a full view of Ikea’s affordable, easily cleanable, porn-friendly furnishings.
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Ikea is coming full circle square. This week, the company announced the return of Lövet, the humble table that inadvertently sparked the flatpack revolution in 1956 when, in a fit of desperation, a young designer chopped off its legs in order to cram it into his car.
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The easiest joke to make about IKEA is that few of its products—from shelves to meatballs—are made from what they seem. But even particleboard still requires wood—and a lot of it, when you’re selling 100 million products every year.
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