Lowe’s brings projects to life with new Holoroom

Lowe’s is giving customers a full 3-D view of their home projects, at home as well as in the store.



Lowe’s Innovation Labs, the retailer’s proprietary technology development center, is updating its Holoroom technology and expanding its availability. Partnering with virtual reality technology provider Oculus VR and Google, Lowe’s has upgraded its Holoroom feature, which lets customers visualize how they could use tools and materials sold at Lowe’s.



Lowe’s initially launched Holoroom in stores in the Toronto area for six months in 2014. Now, the retailer will roll out Holoroom in 19 stores across the U.S. beginning in November.



Holoroom has evolved from a single-platform augmented reality solution to a virtual reality 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.



“Holoroom started out as a 30-by-30-sq.-ft. box in the store with virtual reality running through an iPad,” Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, said in an interview with Chain Store Age. “Now, we’re giving consumers specially built Google Cardboard headsets in free vending machines located in stores. Using the Holoroom app, it will turn their smartphones into virtual reality devices that will let them see their Holoroom wherever they want.”



As Nel described, one of the biggest problems for consumers shopping at Lowe’s is that it can be hard to visualize how they will use products in their homes, or how projects will actually look. In addition, Holoroom lets consumers share their visual ideas.



“Most people make design decisions with a significant other, or at least with input from family and friends,” said Nel.



In addition, Nel said consumers can use Holoroom to share and review project ideas with contractors to ensure they are on the same page with specs. Also, Holoroom can help consumers mid-project.



“One of the most painful parts of any renovation is the period when the house is ripped up,” said Nel. “Holoroom lets you visualize where everything will be once it’s done.”



The Holoroom development process was an adaptation of a process known as “Science Fiction Prototyping.”



“We give our market research and data to professional science fiction writers, who look at technology and people trends to see how technology might affect the lives of the people using it. Then we turn those narratives into comic books that the executive team reads to help them make strategic decisions. It’s not fanciful. It’s purposeful and driven by how people react.”



In other innovation, the Lowe’s 3D printer is slated to arrive at the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2016, making Lowe’s the first retailer to have a presence in space. From 200 miles above Earth, astronauts can use 3D printing technology to create a tool on-demand and produce parts they may not have onboard and immediately available.



“Lowe’s and Made in Space share a vision of how 3D printing can revolutionize retail and home improvement, while also changing the way astronauts work in space,” said Nel. “This is just the beginning of a broader partnership with Made in Space that will bring tools to space and new technology to Earth.”