Holoroom: New From Lowes Innovation Labs
By Megan Zielinski, contributing writer
Lowes is launching groundbreaking technologies in their newly-introduced Innovation Labs. The first initiative to come from the lab is the Lowes Holoroom—a 3-D home improvement simulator allowing customers to visualize their dream room in virtual, real-time display.
In the augmented Holoroom, customers choose all of the Lowes products they want to incorporate into their developments, such as selected cabinets, flooring, lights, tables, and more. From here, customers experience their design in augmented reality—they can walk around and see how their choice of countertop looks with the wall color, how the flooring will look with the furniture, and make any changes necessary that the visual allows them to see before actual construction. By downloading a free available app on iOS or Droid, customers can share this captivating experience of the room with family members at home, giving them a better depiction to what the customer may have been describing.
Lowes recognizes that lack of a clear concept of home improvement project outcomes is what deters homeowners from starting. To solve this, the company has partnered with uncommon and unique specialized professionals, including SciFutures, a foresight and innovation consultancy—enabling customers to enter into a futuristic view of what they want to create out of a room. “We use the power of science fiction narratives to predict future possibilities and explain complex technologies in a way everyone can understand,” said Ari Popper, founder and co-CEO of SciFutures.
“Lowe’s wants to lead innovation by developing disruptive technologies that will help us establish a long-term competitive advantage,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs. “Lowe’s Innovation Labs will allow us to quickly bring in new technology and new partners, explore a wide range of possibilities and identify opportunities to develop concepts like the Holoroom.”
Selected Toronto locations will be the first to have the Lowes Holoroom this year. Bathrooms will be the first category that the Holoroom will test for customers—more rooms, including kitchen and outdoor living spaces will be added to the Holoroom’s capabilities over the next year. Lowes social media networks will update customers on what to look forward to.