DesignMyRoom launched this afternoon – It’s a new product from a company called Swatchbox Technologies that allows people to decorate a real room virtually via a photograph of the room and DesignMyRoom’s library of stuff. Previously the company, which has been around for 11 years, sold 2 million copies of desktop software that has similar functionality as the online tool.
MAKE YOUR DREAM ROOM A REALITY | |||||
| |||||
| |||||
System requirements: The new IKEA Home Planner tool is a web based application using a browser plug-in. The system requirements are: 1 gigahertz (GHz) equivalent or faster 32MB Graphic card 1024 x 768 Display resolution Broadband Internet connection Operating systems: - Windows XP SP2 or higher - MacOS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or higher (for Intel processors only), not compativle with Mac OS X10.7 Lion. Windows Browsers: - Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher - Firefox 3.5.7 or higher - Google Chrome 13.0, beta version Mac Browsers: - Safari 5.0.3 or higher - Firefox 3.5.7 or higher - Internet Explore 8.0.3 or higher Three plug-ins are avaliable: one for Windows Internet Explorer, one for Mozilla FireFox and one for Intel Mac's running Leopard (Safari and FireFox). When accessig the URL for the IKEA Home Planner, a page for downloading the appropriate plug-in will be shown if not already installed. |
Kitchen Makeover Tool. Let loose and create your virtual kitchen with remodeling franchise Kitchen Tune Up’s New Design Tool. I spent an enjoyable hour playing around with the tool the other night. I had to use a purchased software to save my finished kitchen images and I don’t want people to have to do that. But, I bet there is a.
If you thought MyMiniLife was cool, wait until you spend some time playing around with this.
The first step is to pick an empty room, or upload a photo of your own room. You then start decorating it by adding a floor, paint, fixtures, furniture, etc. I made my own room during testing – see the before and after photos above. I also made the project public, so anyone can log in to it and make changes. Have at it.
Objects can be resized, rotated and moved around the room. The next step, the company says, is to allow users to upload their own images and insert them into the room. They’ve also paid attention to details – notice the shadows behind the clover and the lamp, for example, and the light coming into the room from the windows.
It also would be great if they created an embeddable version of the projects (something I assume they’ll do eventually).
There is a clear and really good business model here – selling people the real stuff once they’ve seen it virtually in their room. The company also makes money through product placement and other advertising.