With the new reveal of the Metaverse by Facebook, my project idea is: a mixed reality app that enables new home owners to decorate their rooms/spaces with augmented reality before buying the products. The user will be able to map out their homes (dimensions) accurately using the headsets for individual rooms. In addition to this, companies will be able to list their products to the virtual reality app and customers/users will access those products via a sidebar whilst using the VR headset. A simple drag and drop action will be needed to “place” the product into your home.
As we move forward into a more sustainable, clean future the price of furniture is steadily increasing. Furniture IS an investment. 54% of homeowners expect their furniture to last 20 years or more. For this to happen good, sustainable, long lasting materials need to be used. In turn, causing a price surge in good, long lasting furniture & products. With the current global economy, especially after Covid-19, demand for furniture has boomed due to an increased amount of workers working from home & setting up new offices/spaces for work. In Australia, the government recently allowed for a $25k new homeowner grant for those building their first homes, resulting in an increase of new homes being built. The MR App will greatly help those spending money on new furniture in making the right decision without uncertainty.
The MR Home Decor app will include a partnership between furniture companies and the app company. An online account will be needed with details such as Name, Email, Address and Phone Number. Companies that want to sell their products will list their products within the app which will be converted into a fully interactable, 3D model, accessible to all users. In addition to this, the app itself will be able to map out your newly built home & individual rooms as well as window placement. For already established homes (homes with furniture already placed) the user will be able to set their own dimensions of their rooms, resulting in the app “creating” an empty room whereby the floor & walls will be fully customizable to match and mirror the room you want to work with. (The VR portion of my idea).
Furthermore, the listing of products from companies will include:
A simple drag from the sidebar and “drop” action will be needed to place the selected furniture into your home. Once this has been done, you will be able to rotate the furniture, as long as the user keeps the furniture within the parameters of the room. If the furniture is misplaced (So, out of the selected area accurately measured) it will turn red indicating an error in placement. This is the safety net placed by the MR App to ensure that users place the furniture properly to avoid disappointment in the end product due to human error. The products listed on the MR App sidebar store will have their own dimensions included so “stacking” will be possible. Some products will have a “stackable tag” meaning it will be possible for users to stack said product onto another without issues. Example: Stacking a vase on a side table. Home Decor will warn users when stacking is unsafe by coloring the product ember, again, to reduce disappointment in the final product due to human error.
If companies have the same product in different colours, users will be able to switch between the colours using a color wheel that will pop up when the item is selected. This will also be available once the 3D model of the product is placed within the home. The app will include several information about the products once placed, these include:
Other customization options will include lighting options to see the different furniture and their colours during certain times of the day, based on the window placement in the rooms for most accurate representation of the users homes after buy at different times of day!
The core components for MR Home Decor include a processor, sensors like an accelerometer which measures the change in speed per unit time, a gyroscope which measures the angular velocity, camera, light detection and magnetometer. As my idea also includes a VR portion, a graphics card & CPU will be needed as well as a dedicated head mounted display.
The software that will be used for MR Home Decor will be D’Fusion for Augmented Reality and the VR software that will be needed is Unreal Engine 5. A cloud server will also be needed to store and render data.
The skills needed for Augmented Reality App Development include:
The skills needed for MR Home Decor are possible to achieve with hard work and determination. The software is there to use already, just includes learning. The hardware will be a little but more difficult as it includes its own head mounted display.
If successful, MR Home Decor will help individuals choose their furniture appropriately and with more knowledge in terms of aesthetics for their new homes. This will not only save individuals a lot of money in the long run, but also help them decorate their homes using furniture that is not necessarily readily available. In this way, deliveries & pick ups will be a smoother transaction saving both time for the homeowners and businesses/companies that sell furniture resulting in less money and time spent. If my MR App was to be implemented it will help future technology in progressing mixed reality apps.
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