Lowe’s sees real future in holograms

Lowe’s Companies Inc. is expanding its use of augmented and virtual reality to help customers truly “visualize” home improvement projects.



Lowe’s is partnering with Microsoft to let shoppers use Microsoft HoloLens  augmented reality headsets to view 3-D representations of kitchen remodel design elements in empty in-store showrooms. In select pilot stores, HoloLens lets customers visualize realistic, scale-size, interactive holograms of options for kitchen cabinetry, countertops, appliances and features like backsplashes. Customers can also instantly adjust finishes and options, as well as share design ideas online. A miniature hologram kitchen allows for a bird’s eye perspective of the project.



As a result, Lowe’s can easily show an array of options that can be digitally refreshed. In-store designers, spouses or friends can view what the customer is seeing and changing in real time through a hand-held Surface tablet.



Lowe’s piloted the solution in-store in the greater Seattle area in March. Next, Lowe’s will begin piloting Hololens in-store in Raleigh, North Carolina.



The home improvement retailer has been busy expanding the concept of in-store reality in recent months. In January, the company’s Lowe’s Innovation Labs in-house development center announced it was developing an app for the new Project Tango virtual reality (VR) mobile platform.



Jointly created by Google and Lenovo, Project Tango provides mobile devices with spatial capabilities. Using a mobile device’s camera, Project Tango can perform tasks such as measuring physical spaces, detecting objects in physical space, and creating realistic 3-D models of physical environments from scratch.



And in October 2015, Lowe’s released an upgraded version of its Holoroom VR design and visualization tool that leverages Oculus Rift optic technology in stores and Google Cardboard viewers that consumers can take home. Lowe’s Innovation Labs and Google collaborated to create a shareable Holoroom experience that combines YouTube’s 360-degree video capabilities with Google Cardboard to enable customers to view and share their design ideas at will.



Lowe’s latest holographic project with Microsoft shows the retailer is interested in discovering the best possible way or ways to deliver augmented and virtual reality experiences to customers, and is happy to use whatever in-house or third-party resources deliver results. Rival home improvement chain The Home Depot is also offering augmented reality features in its mobile app.



The home improvement vertical is not typically thought of as flashy or innovative, and its youngest core customers are the oldest members of the millennial generation. Home improvement’s focus on leading-edge, consumer-facing technology is a clear signal that retail as a whole is going digital, even for shoppers who are not “digital natives.”