Wayfair Launches Second Virtual Reality App

November 11, 2016  by Larry Thomas in Industry, Retail Technology   

Available on Daydream, Google’s high quality, mobile VR platform, IdeaSpace enables consumers to explore a variety of uniquely designed spaces and shop their favorite finds in an interactive setting, the retailer said.

IdeaSpace was built by Wayfair Next, the company’s internal research and development team, using Google’s virtual reality technology.

“Discovery is an essential part of the Wayfair shopping experience as consumers explore our unmatched selection and inspirational content to find new ideas for their homes,” said Steve Conine, co-founder and co-chairman of Wayfair. “Inspired by Wayfair’s ‘Get the Look’ resource, where shoppers can explore featured interiors from designers as well as Wayfair commercials and catalogs, IdeaSpace allows customers to browse beautifully styled spaces and products in a completely immersive experience.” 

By placing any Daydream-ready phone, such as Google's Pixel phone, into the Daydream View headset, shoppers are transported to a number of custom-designed rooms they can move through with a swipe on the Daydream controller. To “get the look,” shoppers can point the cursor at featured 3-D products, click to display additional details and rotate for a complete 360-degree view, then save their favorite products within the app.

“As the e-commerce leader in the home space, we believe that being on the forefront of new technology adoption will allow us to create the best possible shopping experience for our customers,” added Conine. “Using Google’s advanced technology, IdeaSpace takes the inspirational content our customers have come to expect to an entirely new level.”

Wayfair’s IdeaSpace is available now for download on Google Play.

Wayfair launched its first VR app earlier this year with the Oculus Rift headset.