Design Visualization

One of the biggest challenges when undertaking a home improvement project is imagining the end result.

We have spent nearly 10 years exploring how spatial computing can help customers visualize their new space – and we’re as optimistic as ever about its potential.

For homeowners taking on a project or renovation, regardless of size, there are hundreds of choices to be made and unlimited combinations to bring your vision to life. 

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with remodeling decisions. You want clean, contemporary countertops. But should you go with granite, quartz, or marble? You have dozens of inspiration pictures saved online but what would you call your style? The faucets you love are vintage and the appliances are more modern. Will those actually work together? 

For nearly a decade, the Lowe’s Innovation Labs team has explored the potential of using virtual and mixed reality to help customers conquer the challenge of visualizing a final decor or remodeling outcome.

Our work has led us to build immersive experiences that allow customers to virtually walk through their ideal renovations before a single product is purchased or a single nail is hammered.

With the aid of VR and XR, homeowners can "try on" different design options, experiment with various color schemes, and virtually rearrange furniture, enabling them to make informed decisions and feel more confident about the direction of their home improvement journey.

In late 2014, Lowe’s Innovation Labs initiated its first six-month test of Holoroom, a home improvement design and visualization experience for exploring and planning projects, in two of our Canada stores.

With an iPad, a specially outfitted space, and the help of a store associate, customers could build out their dream space, with real Lowe's products, to understand how their selections might come to life in the real world.

Holoroom evolved to encompass new form factors and additional stores through 2015. The Labs team brought Holoroom to multiple Lowe’s stores via the Oculus Rift VR headset, creating one of the first customer-facing experiences leveraging that breakthrough VR headset.

Customers could create a kitchen design in-store, then take it home and visit it again leveraging their smart phone and a takeaway Google Cardboard device.

Lowe's Innovation Labs was one of the first retailers to build an experience for Microsoft's HoloLens. We a brought the HoloLens augmented reality device to two Lowe's stores in 2016.

Wearing the HoloLens headset, shoppers could view physical objects and digital holograms of products while standing in a showroom kitchen.

Customers could select different design options for their kitchens, countertops, appliances, etc. without having to actually purchase them.

Customers used the HoloLens design tool to bring their dream kitchen to life, with personal style preferences pulled from their Pinterest boards and matched to real products sold at Lowe's.

Through HoloLens, customers witnessed a life-sized holographic kitchen materialize before them. Using simple gestures to interact with their environment, customers could swap out and customize the kitchen based on their preferences.

This immersive experience was designed to give customers confidence that they'll love their kitchen post-installation, all without the need for physical swatch cards or samples.