Ikea 2013 catalog gets companion AR app

I am quite sure that any area with an Ikea in the vicinity will also see majority of the households there have at least something from the furniture giant in their respective homes, not to mention an Ikea catalog (or more) lying around somewhere. There is just something about the Ikea catalog that makes it look so interesting, and you have the urge of making your way there to buy something which has piqued your interest. In order to keep up with the times and attract even more information, word on the street has it that the 2013 Ikea catalog will come with a companion AR app (Augmented Reality app) thanks to Ikea’s collaboration with McCann-Erickson.

This makeover will come with a promise of making its pages “come alive” through the AR app, where shoppers will be introduced to a wide range of extended content. According to Ikea Head of Global Communications Lena Simonsson Berge, it was a case of “basically one page talking about the fact that the catalog needs a vitamin pill. It was quite open, but one prerequisite was that we wanted to keep the printed catalog as a base. Many other companies would have started this exercise by doing a deep study on how much more efficient this could be totally online, versus paper, but, typical Ikea, we like to do things a bit backwards. We believe in something, and we go from there and see what we could do about it.”

All the more reason to get a smartphone now if you are a huge fan of the Swedish furniture behemoth, no? Image from Engadget.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: ar, ikea