IKEA will enable customers to redecorate their homes through a mobile augmented reality application.
For this 2013 edition, the IKEA catalogue is getting better! Available since July 31, the catalogue, which inspires the many pictures of the staged events, will this year be an interactive product with the latest augmented reality technology. The application uses image recognition, another step towards the obvious disappearance of QRcodes. The link between print and digital media turns the catalogue into a multimedia platform, where prices, special promotions and other data can be constantly updated.
"With the addition of augmented reality, we are looking to improve our customers' experience with our catalogue. While the print version continues to be the cornerstone of our overall marketing strategy, we want our customers to be able to interact with our catalogue and experience our products in a unique and creative way," said Madeleine Löwenborg-Frick, Public Relations Manager, IKEA Canada, Burlington, ON.
Distributed in paper format with 211 million copies in 62 different editions, in 27 languages in 40 different countries, some editions of the catalogue are available, since 2010, in electronic version on Android and iPhone smartphones and on iPad-type touch tablets.
For the 2013 edition, by leafing through the catalogue you will be able to obtain additional information and inspiration via augmented reality. The "augmented" pages are identified in the upper right-hand side by a pictogram representing a mobile.
You'll simply need to download the IKEA catalogue app for your iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, point to the catalogue and scan particular page locations to unlock bonuses. With the application you can have a more interactive experience and get for example photos and videos, sample layouts, product design presentations and interactive 3D views.
In addition, social media also plays an important role in the IKEA autumn catalogue as users can access games to win prizes such as gift cards.
In May, IKEA Canada began piloting an application that allows consumers to create shopping lists, find nearby stores and check product availability.
The augmented reality technology used here is that of "metaio", one of the pioneers of these techniques (Germany). The company's technology is already used by firms such as Adidas or Lego, in Otto's distance selling catalogue, on the CD cover of the Black Eyed Peas' latest album, for the German television programme Galileo.
{Jacuzzi on}