Show HN: I Made a Room Simulator

3 points

5 months ago

In 2016 Tim Cook said in an interview that he was so excited about augmented reality that he wanted “to yell out and scream.” He name-checked IKEA and cited buying furniture as a prime example of something that can be completely changed by AR.

In 2021, IKEA floated a proof-of-concept app called Studio. The video was an instant hit. The app itself, however, quietly fizzled out in R&D. As to why it didn't work out, perhaps it was a lack of the right tech, or the right talent. But in the end, we never got it...

Two years ago I set out to see how close I could get to delivering that vision by building practical, spatial tools that let people place, visualize, and make confident decisions about their own spaces, not in a showroom. Paint, furniture, fixtures. Wall-to-wall. Floor-to-ceiling.

I made a video recreating the IKEA Studio POC on an iPad, iPhone and Apple Vision Pro within Room Genie--it can be seen here: https://youtu.be/bHyM0KT0sEU?feature=shared

The app is in the App Store, you can find it here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/room-genie-6d-design-simulator...