Intro
In the Spring of 2017 the frog SF studio received an immediate request to join a secret project at Apple headquarters on behalf of a longtime client. It was there that I was told they were working on what was going to become the next generation standard for augmented reality platforms – ARKit – and needed to rapidly build functional demos to share with the audience at WWDC 2017. They needed to show how this new platform could be used for everything from ecomm to gaming. The frog team designed and built one of the first commercial ARKit furniture placement app demos and the first version of the IKEA AR Place app built on ARKit.
Visiting 1 Infinite Loop for the first time. Pics and talking about what was happening inside were not allowed or to be talked about, but seeing the changes made for ARKit took me back to a familiar AR moment from childhood.
This wasn’t IKEA’s first rodeo with mobile AR. There were clear issues with “floating assets”, performance and other problems with earlier SLAM systems.
This was a new paradigm for IKEA customers so real world metaphors were explored like lift, move and place to loosely ground the experience while invoking quirky and fun moments that aligned with the IKEA brand. When browsing through products in 3D, users can engage an “IKEA Catalogue” view that relates well to the real world print layout toying with the idea that the user could create a virtual showroom in their house.
An augmented reality application requires the user to hold and point the device around him. A safe and steady grasp on the device is required during the majority of the experience, so easily reachable areas while holding the device with two hands were key. These areas helped define button placement to minimize risk of failure, drop or pain. Given the immersive nature of the app and the fact that tapping on objects on screen is a more risky interaction, user points the reticle to objects in space to access contextual actions that are reachable.
Iconography and design accounted for a moving image camera feed at full bleed in the background. For AR applications the device often behaves more as a portal than something that is more self contained. Simple shapes and familiar symbols such as the IKEA flatpack drove inspiration for these icons.
It was important to simulate the textile quality and variations as closely as possible. A 3D asset firm, Liquid Development, was engaged to optimize the 3D models and produce the shaders needed to add quality to the textures. A consideration for the event was the press would have access to the demo during the event so the functionality was included to email screenshots.
The final version of the demo app running in the IKEA demo space in the Munich studio and some clips from WWDC 2017 referring to AR and showing the demo running on stage
The demo announcement and demos produced quite of bit of buzz in the press, these articles actually included pics of the demo and the quote reflects Tim Cook’s enthusiasm for the the functionality. The final version of the app was built by a firm in the Netherlands and the Place app was still ranked number 2 after the launch of the final version. A number of similar applications have emerged since – Houzz, Lowe’s, Tesla (demo), Sherwin Williams.
Credits:
- Technical Lead – Charles Yust
- Visual Design – Aris Dotti
- Developer – Ahmad Saeed
- Interaction Design – Mattias Mouchard
- Creative Lead – Kevin Cnnon
- Project Management – Mariana Martinez
NOTICE – This project was completed while working at frog design. All rights to the project belong to frog design and the client.
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