Ikea's New App Lets You See How Its Furniture Will Look In Your Actual House

Ikea's taking advantage of Apple's latest iOS update to give customers a way to shop in a whole new way.

Before trekking to an Ikea location to play with tape measures and dabble in Jon Snow cosplay, Ikea Place uses augmented reality to "place" furniture pieces in shoppers' houses, so they can preview how things will look before they even start thinking about the assembly process.

According to Mashable, Ikea Place takes advantage of Apple's new ARKit tech and the iPhone's built-in camera to scan rooms in which to place virtual furniture. Much like Pokémon Go placed cute creatures in parks and shopping malls, Ikea Place puts actual Ikea furniture in living rooms and bedrooms. Mashable reports that the furniture on offer is actually very realistic and the app's users can actually walk around their rooms and the actual items to see exactly how they'll look from different angles.

Before you get too excited, note that the app doesn't include everything in Ikea's vast catalog, just the store's most popular pieces and new featured ones. But even with the limited selection, it's easy — and very cool — to see how various tables, dressers, and chairs will look in your space without having to measure things or even getting dressed.

To use the app, shoppers will need to have an iPhone and update it to iOS 11. No iPhone 8 or X necessary. Perspective shoppers just need to allow the app access to the camera. After that, it's a free-for-all. Users can place as many furniture pieces as they like into their rooms and redo it all to their hearts' content. Remember, though, that after the fun and shopping comes assembly and the inevitable extras that come along with a trip to the Swedish superstore. Feel free to pick up some soft serve, but rethink that extra set of coasters and gotta-have-it impulse buys in the as-is section. Those are definitely things shoppers can't tinker with on Ikea Place.

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