Pinterest is adding a “Try On for Home Decor” feature to its app, letting you see furniture from stores like Crate & Barrel, CB2, Walmart, West Elm, and Wayfair in your house through the power of augmented reality. While it’s certainly not a new idea (Pinterest itself already has a similar feature in its app for cosmetics), it could make shopping in the app a little more enjoyable — and Pinterest seems very into shopping right now.
According to the company’s announcement post, you’ll be able to use its Lens camera to try out over 80,000 pieces of furniture from “shoppable Pins.” If you like what you see, you’ll be able to follow a link to the retailer’s website, where you can buy that new chaise or lamp that fits so well next to your coffee table.
Of course, this isn’t a new idea — Ikea’s app lets you drop virtual furniture into your house in 2013, and in the almost decade since, companies like Target, Amazon, Shopify, and even Etsy have introduced ways to let you see how certain products will work in your house. Other companies, like Walmart, have gone even further, imagining (and trademarking ideas for) entire virtual shopping experiences.
Still, it’s nice to have the tech available at yet another place and could be handy if you’re big on using Pinterest to shop (or to dream about how you’d like your living room to look). The feature didn’t seem to be available yet when I tried using it in Pinterest’s iOS app, but when it goes live, you should see an AR symbol on product pins that support it, and tapping on them should give you access to the “try in your space” button. If you absolutely cannot wait, Crate & Barrel has a section on its website that shows you all the products with AR models available (you can view them straight from Safari on iOS), and Wayfair’s app has its own “view in room” mode.
