Morpholio has unveiled a suite of new iconic furniture designs brought to life through augmented reality with Morpholio Board. Joining forces with manufacturer Knoll and one of the world’s top AR visualization companies, Theia Interactive, the team is showcasing a range of work from designers like Eero Saarinen and Marcel Breuer to Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Barcelona chair.
Morpholio ventured to see how far they could push Augmented Reality. “Knoll’s collection is not only beautiful; the attention to detail made the furniture a perfect argument for why AR needed to go further using Apples new USDZ 3D file format.” says Anna Kenoff, Morpholio Co-Founder. The goal for Morpholio was to work with Theia to take on two major hurdles for AR in the design industry.
The first hurdle was considering detail. As the team states, “consumers and interior designers do not rely on cartoonish shapes to make critical decisions about color, space, scale and texture. They need to see detailed finishes, patterns and even stitching to understand how something might really work in an environment.” Thanks to Apple’s ARKit, USDZ 3D file format, the upcoming “People Occlusion” in iOS13 and Theia’s mastery, Morpholio’s already popular Board App now has AR with a new range of detail.
The second challenge was to answer why AR is needed. The intent for Morpholio was to make AR part of a larger and more meaningful process. “This isn’t about hitting the buy button on a single piece of furniture,” says Mark Collins, Morpholio Co-Founder. “This is powerful visualization technology that needed to be plugged into the entire interior design workflow, helping homeowners and designers alike to imagine and curate spaces holistically.”
For each AR product, Board now allows users to add it to their mood board alongside other models, fixtures and furnishings. The result is a vision for an entire room or project that can be brought to life. Taking it a step further, with a single button, Board automatically translates your AR selections into cut sheets and furniture lists to share with your contractor, designer or collaborators.
“By bringing these pieces into AR, we’ve changed the way people can interact with and consider the furniture that will surround them when creating their ideal home or office. The result is a first in the space and truly redefines how we understand what good AR can do for the design industry.” says Bill Fishkin, President of Theia.
These smart design tools are rethinking how designers, and now shoppers, can experience furniture, and make better decisions. Whether you are working on your own home or creating a new kind of interactive presentation. Morpholio's team is also working with Porcelanosa, Dyson, Hansgrohe, Phase, Davis and many others to deliver more immersive experiences for designers.
Currently Board AR is available for iPad and will be coming to iPhone soon. You can download Morpholio Board in the App Store here.
