IKEA releases VR kitchen experience on Steam
Swedish furniture store IKEA has released a new VR experience on Steam, which allows prospective customers to view various kitchen designs in virtual reality before deciding to buy.
The VR experience allows players to walk around various kitchens in full 3D, complete with interactive with drawers and cupboards. You can change the material finish of the kitchen as you explore, or even change your perspective to view it from the height of a small child or a very tall person. Players will also be able to interact with things such as frying pans, placing them on the stove as well as vegetable skins which they’ll be able to recycle.
“Virtual reality is developing quickly and in five to ten years it will be an integrated part of people’s lives. We see that virtual reality will play a major role in the future of our customers. For instance, someday, it could be used to enable customers to try out a variety of home furnishing solutions before buying them,” says Jesper Brodin, managing director at IKEA of Sweden and Range & Supply Manager at IKEA Group.
The experience is available for free on Steam and is compatible with HTC Vive. It was developed by French company Allegorithmic using Unreal Engine 4 and will be continuously updated until August when the test pilot ends. See some screenshots below.
