Interactive IKEA Catalog iPhone App Launched 
… in Spain. Via ispazio.com in Italy, we learned today that Mobile Dreams Factory and IKEA Spain have launched an official iPhone application (FREE download at the iTunes store) for the IKEA Catalog. Although limited in the number of products available and the features in v1.0, I have to say I’m impressed with IKEA’s bold venture into the augmented reality arena. It looks as though IKEA’s foray into Augmented Reality for the launch of the 2009 PS range is being parlayed into a much wider application to (hopefully) eventually include the entire 2010 IKEA Catalog. More screenshots and details after the jump!
See more on IKEA’s Mobile Website:
IKEA’s New Mobile Website: A First Look and
IKEA Mobile: IKEA Sale, Event and Contest Info in the Palm of your Hand
See more on IKEA’s Augmented Reality Ventures:
Mobile Augmented Reality Application for IKEA PS Range and
Augmented Reality for BILLY’s 30th Birthday
IKEA Catalog iPhone Application
This application release requires iPhone firmware release 3.1 or greater and is compatible with iPhone and iPod touch mobile devices. Though this first release is limited in the number of products available, I have to say that I’d prefer they get the technology right before weighting it down with a multitude of products. That’s why I thought that releasing the Augmented Reality app for the the IKEA PS range was a brilliant idea - a limited range of products is perfect to showcase the tech behind the app.
Application Features
This is a modest first edition of a product catalog application for IKEA. It features none of what you might consider vital in a ’shopping application,’ such as the unofficial SwedeShop iPhone application, like the ability to create a shopping list, to keep a running total of items selected in the store, or to record aisle/bin numbers. This is not a ’shopping application’ so much as it is the application of technology to products in the IKEA catalog. Still, a step in the right direction! We’ll be publishing a poll to see what features you would like to see in an iPhone application - stay tuned!
This first iteration of the IKEA app offers two main features:
Discover Your Style
Through a series of screens in which you choose one product over another, the IKEA iPhone application will attempt to help determine what style is most YOU. Think of it as one of those magazine style quizzes on steroids.
Augmented Reality
The second part of the application allows you to select a piece of IKEA furniture or accessory from the catalog and then using your iPhone camera, place the furniture in your own room, virtually. Although you cannot currently rotate the product, you can resize it using a slider bar located on the right side of the screen.
IKEA iPhone Application Reviews
Launched on November 2nd, and available for free, this first version of the IKEA Catalog iPhone application (v 1.0) is so far getting positive written reviews, though the actual iTunes ratings are low.
What a great idea! I loved the idea. by Betobetico, November 2, 2009
Very cool to see as are the furniture! by Rglug, November 6, 2009
As of this writing, the average rating in the iTunes App store for this application is 2 stars. I suspect that is largely based on the sparseness of the catalog offerings, and the relatively low quality of the augmented reality output at this point in time. My guess is that as the application evolves, the reviews and ratings will improve.
Do you have an iPhone?
Download the application and test it out! We’d love to get your images to post and hear your reviews. Let us talk to IKEA and tell them what you want to see in an iPhone application as it develops!
Tags: Augmented Reality, IKEA 2010 Catalog, IKEA iPhone Application, IKEA Mobile, IKEA Mobile Application, IKEA Mobile Interior Planner, IKEA Spain, iPhone
