An augmented reality based application for furnishing configuration and evaluation

Virtual reality as the way to display digital models and to interact with them has flourished in industrial contexts some years ago, both for design and marketing reasons. However, some specific sectors, e.g. furnishings and garments, would prefer to evaluate their products in a real environment, where their models could be easily placed, and where the interaction with them could take place in a natural way. These requirements suggested the design of an application, based on the augmented reality, which allows users placing digital models of pieces of furniture in real domestic environments, verifying their dimensional and aesthetic compatibility with the existing context, and interacting with them to test functional behavior and usability issues. Such a project would result interesting both for possible customers and for designers, because some important design hints could come from its adoption. An application prototype has been developed and tested in the field in a couple of case studies. Copyright © 2011 by ASME.