mydeco.com and Dassault Systemes Launch Augmented Reality iPhone App

March 1, 2010 - PRLog -- mydeco.com and Dassault Systemes launched a new augmented reality iPhone application, ‘Furnish Your Photo’ which enables users to choose from hundreds of 3D models of furniture to add to their photo, helping them to visualize how a new sofa, table or even chandelier might look in their own room.

The mydeco app allows anyone with an iPhone to become their own interior designer by making it quick and easy to visualize a specific item in your own room – to scale, and positioned where you want it.

By downloading the free mydeco app (search ‘mydeco’), now available in the iTunes app store, users can choose from 500 3D models of real pieces of furniture including design classics such as Philippe Starck's ‘Miss Lacy’ chair, Tom Dixon's wingback chair and the Eames lounge chair. Although the app already includes more interior design themed 3D models than any other iPhone app, mydeco plans to expand the range to include approx 75,000 3D models from the catalogue of over 5 million furniture items already available on http://mydeco.com/.

Brent Hoberman, mydeco Executive Chairman and founder of lastminute.com, comments “The ‘Furnish Your Photo’ app is the first app to enable iPhone users to visualize a piece of furniture in any room – instantly. This isn’t an example of an app which uses technology for the sake of it; it’s fun but it’s also very practical. By positioning the sofa exactly where you want it, you can get a really good idea of whether it’s going to work in your home before you even shop for it. It’s like a virtual fitting room for your living room.”

The app takes one of the most useful features of the iPhone – the ability to quickly take a photo while you’re on the move – and layers on top sophisticated 3D visualization technology to give the user a simple, but useful ‘augmented reality’ experience.
Once added to any photo, the 3D furniture models can be spun around, moved up or down, and moved forwards and backwards to give an incredibly realistic photo-quality image of the item in your own room. The furnished photo can be saved to the iPhone photo library, shared on Facebook or emailed according to user preferences.
“This iPhone app is a first step towards a strong partnership with mydeco, to bring 3D life-like experience to this creative and vivid online decorating and interior design community” stated Frederic Vacher, Dassault Systemes Director Digital, Content and Media. (http://www.3ds.com)  “With 3D, people can now experience on their mobile or online not only the form of the product but also have a real interaction: 3D is a new media that engages consumers with products.“

Inspired by Tim Burton’s hotly anticipated ‘Alice in Wonderland’ film, the app also includes fantasy 3D models such as giant toadstools, thrones, and oversized tea-cups. To celebrate the launch of the app, mydeco is launching a competition for users to design the best fantasy Alice in Wonderland room, to win tickets to see the film when it is released on March 5th. To enter, users simply email their furnished fantasy room photo to iPhone@mydeco.com
To download the free mydeco visit ‘Furnish Your Photo’ app, search for ‘mydeco’ in the iTunes app store.

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mydeco, founded by the management team behind lastminute.com, is the UKs leading interior design and home wares website. It brings together 5 million products from over 2,000 retailers, boasts 3D technology to design your home, and a thriving community.