Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Somerton Dwelling Offering Virtual Showroom Tours at Market
October 14,
2016 by Jane Chero in High Point, Industry, Market, Special Events 
Along with welcoming visitors to a brand-new showroom at the upcoming High Point Market, case goods resource Somerton Dwelling is harnessing the power of virtual reality to further enhance the customer experience.
The company has hired SubVRsive, an Emmy-nominated company based in Austin, Texas, which works with top brands to provide their story using virtual reality.
“This emerging technology will improve retailers’ and designers’ experience in the showroom, and make shopping Somerton Dwelling more efficient and smarter,” notes Dave Pinamonti, Somerton Dwelling’s president.
Showroom visitors have the option of a full immersion virtual reality experience using an Occulus Rift headset to stand inside and interact with Somerton Dwelling’s virtual product display, or they can opt to watch the virtual reality video on a monitor. In either case, the company said the viewer will see several of Somerton Dwelling’s collections in a completely new environment.
“Using virtual reality technology in the furniture industry has massive implications,” explains Austin Mace, SubVRsive’s CEO. “Entire showrooms are now able to be virtualized and experienced by retailers and consumers. We are able to take an experience that traditionally requires hundreds of thousands of square feet to condense it down to a significantly smaller footprint.
“As VR continues to be an adopted experience, soon we will be able to bring the showroom experience almost anywhere.”
Somerton Dwelling’s showroom is space W-646 of the International Home Furnishings Center.
SubVRsive’s clients include Showtime, MTV, and Capital One. The company builds gear as needed for each project and creates all types of VR content and 360° video. Filming the Somerton Dwelling project took place over a series of days in a residence in California, allowing for a realistic look and feel for the products’ settings.
“The use of emerging technology is changing and enhancing the way the furniture industry does business,” adds Rita Ho-Bezzola, Somerton Dwelling’s CEO. “We’re thrilled to be able to bring this cutting-edge technology to our customers at fall market, and be one of the first furniture brands to do so.”