Inspiration

Furnish-AR was inspired by the need to make furniture shopping and home decoration more intuitive, interactive, and accessible. With the rapid growth of augmented reality (AR) technologies, we saw an opportunity to help users visualize how furniture pieces would look in their own homes, eliminating the guesswork involved in purchasing items online. Our goal is to create an immersive, user-friendly AR experience for home interior design.

What it does

Furnish-AR allows users to explore a wide selection of furniture items in augmented reality. By simply using a smartphone or AR glasses, users can view how different pieces of furniture look and fit within their actual living spaces. The app uses advanced AR tracking to scale the furniture to real-world proportions and provides a 360-degree view to help users make informed decisions. The app also includes features like saving favorite items, sharing designs, and even virtual rearranging of the furniture within a room.

How we built it

Furnish-AR was built using a combination of technologies, including:

• ARCore/ARKit: For augmented reality tracking and rendering.
• Unity: To develop and design the 3D models of furniture, integrating them with AR functionalities.
• Cloud Database: For storing user preferences, saved designs, and furniture data.
• UI/UX Design: Focused on creating a simple and intuitive interface for seamless navigation.

We used Agile methodology to ensure continuous development and frequent testing, allowing us to refine the user experience and fix bugs in real time.

Challenges we ran into

• AR Tracking Accuracy: Ensuring that the furniture items were scaled correctly in the physical environment and interacted smoothly with various surfaces.
• Performance Optimization: AR apps require high performance, and we faced challenges ensuring smooth user experience across different device types with varying hardware capabilities.
• 3D Model Integration: Converting and optimizing 3D models for compatibility with AR was a time-consuming task.
• Lighting Conditions: Ensuring that the virtual furniture was realistically rendered under various lighting conditions in users’ environments.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Realistic Furniture Placement: Achieving accurate and lifelike placement of 3D models in real-world environments.
• User Interface: Creating an easy-to-use interface that allows users to quickly adopt the app and start designing their space.
• Cross-Platform Compatibility: Successfully making the app compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
• Positive User Feedback: Receiving encouraging feedback from early users who appreciated how the app helped them visualize furniture choices better.

What we learned

• The Importance of User Testing: We learned the value of continuous testing and feedback loops, especially in AR applications where user interaction is key.
• Performance Optimization: AR demands a balance between high-quality visuals and smooth performance. We learned the importance of optimizing assets for performance on a wide range of devices.
• Cross-Platform Development: Working with different platforms (iOS, Android) taught us how to adjust and optimize for each device’s unique capabilities and limitations.

What's next for Furnish-AR

• Expanded Furniture Catalog: We plan to integrate a wider selection of furniture items and offer customization options for users.
• User Personalization: Adding features like custom color schemes, size adjustments, and design suggestions based on user preferences.
• Enhanced AI Suggestions: Implementing machine learning to recommend furniture layouts or styles based on user preferences and room sizes.
• Collaboration Features: Enabling users to share their designs with others, making it easier to collaborate on interior decoration projects.

Built With

• github
• unity