Vision. InSight Decor

3D interior design app case study

Learn about the business potential, opportunities, and key aspects of building an interior design app on the Apple Vision Pro platform

Design
Industry
4 specialists
Team size
Ukraine
Location
3 weeks
Project duration

[ Project overview ]

Many clients approach Onix with requests related to architectural visualization, e.g., real estate developers looking to visualize properties for their clients and to collaborate on their customization.

This made Onix's VR developers think about how interior designers and their clients choose, customize, and arrange furniture, light fixtures, sanitary hardware, and other household goods.

It's a rather complex and lengthy process that involves multiple products and vendors, communication channels and information formats, assumptions and estimates, misunderstandings and miscalculations, and, as a result, errors, countless iterations, delays, rework, stress, and extra costs. Modern technology should make these processes more straightforward and efficient for all!

Extended reality (XR), provided by the recently released Apple Vision Pro, suggested a perfect solution that doesn’t involve actual products: XR enables users to visualize and interact with 3D models of desired items as if they were in a user’s room.

So, the Onix team decided to build an interior design app for Apple Vision Pro that helps users select products for various spaces.

[ Challenges & results ]

Interior design agencies, real estate companies, retailers, and marketplaces that invest in interior design app development like that may expect the following results:

Competitive advantage

Using an XR interior design app and Apple Vision Pro (or even more affordable devices) to cater to customers’ needs and desires can become a company’s unique value proposition. Companies that leverage state-of-the-art technology appeal to more demanding, tech-savvy, and affluent audiences and are perceived as more up-to-date and successful.

Enhanced personalization

Real estate developers providing 3D interior design sessions in virtual environments, such as a client’s future home or office, can personalize their offers and increase customer engagement and satisfaction.

Enhanced shopping experience

The ability to visualize furniture or appliances in a customer’s actual space facilitates an enjoyable and genuinely personalized shopping experience that eliminates guesswork and facilitates informed buying decisions. The ability to instantly order the selected items through the app right from their home or office will accelerate sales.

Higher conversions and sales

Immersive shopping experiences like InSight Decor are truly engaging, reduce uncertainty, and increase confidence in clients’ and consumers’ choices.

Cost and time savings

Trials in XR reduce the need for marketing materials, physical samples, showroom spaces, and in-person consultations, as well as reduce product returns.

Onix’s tasks for this project were:

﹂

To develop a user-friendly and intuitive app interface specifically for Apple Vision Pro

﹂

Ensure seamless interaction with 3D models superimposed on real-life interiors for immersive and flexible design experiences

﹂

Ensure an accurate representation of each item in an actual room in real time to facilitate better purchase and design decisions

[ InSight Decor app flow ]

Users wearing the Apple Vision Pro headset can

Select 3D models of furniture from a digital catalog

Place digitally rendered furniture on the floor or walls of the room in their current view

Experiment with different colors and materials of the items

Are you looking to develop an interior design mobile app?

[ Solutions we provide ]

Onix developed an interior design application for Apple Vision Pro that enables users to visualize and interact with realistic 3D products directly within their own spaces.

Instead of relying on imagination, customers can view products at true scale and evaluate how they fit into their environment before making decisions.

The first version of the application focuses on furniture visualization, allowing users to explore layouts and design options in an immersive XR environment.

XR interior design app features & advantages

Adaptive furniture selection

Physically-based rendering (PBR) of the items

Customizable colors

User-friendly interface

Onix curated selections of floor-based and wall-mounted furniture suitable for several spaces, e.g., office, lounge, canteen, etc. The furniture categories include sofas, chairs, tables, shelves, wall decorations, etc.Using hand gestures, users can choose furniture pieces and move the 3D models within their actual environments seen through the Vision Pro cameras. The system recognizes the room’s dimensions and empty spaces to place the virtual objects accurately.This enables users to evaluate the pieces’ overall look, whether they fit in the space and match the existing room décor, etc.

Thanks to Vision Pro’s PBR, InSight Decor renders virtual furniture pieces with maximum realism. They cast shadows, and their materials and textures are responsive to real-world lighting conditions. Some surfaces even reflect real-world objects as if the piece was physically in the room. 3D objects can also be blocked by real-world objects when viewed from some angles due to Vision Pro’s occlusion support.This gives users an accurate preview of the furniture’s appearance in their specific space.

The color customization feature enables users to experiment with various colors for the selected items and choose the shades that best match their existing décor or create a unique new style for the space.

InSight Decor was designed specifically for Apple Vision Pro users and according to Apple’s guidelines. For example, large letters are recommended for virtual labels and prompts to prevent eye strain.Lange virtual CTAs and buttons increase the ease of use, where the user’s gaze and hand gestures serve as ‘controllers.’ The layout is easy to navigate, enabling users to switch between furniture categories and modify the pieces’ colors effortlessly and ensuring a smooth, enjoyable user experience.

[ Challenges and solutions ]

During this interior design app development, Onix’s specialists successfully

Adapted the app concept to the new Apple Vision Pro platform

Implemented an intuitive, clean, and convenient responsive user interface, including control functions unique to the platform

Ensured the most realistic and detailed rendering of virtual objects in real-life views that the technology allows

Are you interested in interior design app development? Our experts are at your service!

Core technology stack we used

Unity,

PolySpatial,

Blender,

XR Interaction Toolkit,

Figma,

Visual Studio

Future platform capabilities

Future releases or brand applications based on this concept may include:

3D Product Catalogs

Browse furniture, lighting, sanitary hardware, consumer electronics, paints, tiles, textiles, and other products in XR.

AI-Assisted Selection

Receive product suggestions based on room dimensions, budget, and user preferences.

Virtual Property Tours

Combine interior design experiences with virtual tours of properties under development.

Real-Time Collaboration

Discuss design choices and receive feedback through in-app chat.

Visualization Sharing

Save and share photos and videos of design concepts and visualizations.

Project Specifications

Transform approved visualizations into implementation-ready specifications.

Budget Planning & Ordering

Compare prices, calculate costs, and place orders from one or multiple vendors.

Customer Insights

Analyze product interactions to identify customer preferences, buying patterns, and trends.

[ Results and prospects ]

This interior design tool created by Onix exemplifies the power of augmented and extended reality in helping users bring their ideal room setups to life, making spatial planning more accessible, enjoyable, and effective.

Currently, the app is suitable primarily for interior designers and runs on Apple’s Vision Pro devices. On request, we can adapt it to the more affordable Meta Quest 3 or other platforms (iOS/ARKit, Android/ARCore) and devices to cater to wider audiences.

However, building out the app to serve real estate companies, retailers of household goods, and even marketplaces promises more exciting opportunities and benefits.