We began building in-store augmented and virtual reality applications in 2013 as part of our larger vision of empowering customers with the confidence needed to design and build their homes. With this app, we brought this capability directly to customers’ homes, so they can easily visualize designs and style choices in their real spaces in real-time.

Features:

- Power measure: Quickly, intuitively capture room dimensions; limit product options to those that will fit your space.

- 3D designer: Select products from a virtual library and place them in the home in real-time to preview style choices.

- Save, snap & share: After designing the perfect space, save the project and share photos with friends or a professional contractor.

- Shopping lists and reviews: Create a shareable shopping list and find additional product information like reviews, related items and promotions.

Timeline: Google reached out to us on in late 2015 about a launch partnership to release an inaugural application on the Tango platform. The development for the Lowe’s Vision application began in February, 2016.

Implementation: We worked with merchants across the business to identify top products and new product categories for key retail departments – kitchen, bath, living spaces, and décor. Our team built the base platform for the application and then modeled the assets for the application by hand. Eventually, we switched methods and began 3D scanning the assets, which then pipelined into the app. We went through a series of tests on the Tango development kits, and then on the Lenovo Phab 2 Pros when they became available.

Placement and scale: The app launched on the Google Play Store in November, 2016 and can operate on any Tango-enabled device. We continue to update the application with more 3D assets on a regular basis.

This is a beta app so we are continuing to test and iterate. Our targets for the beta app were to determine a number of things:

- Is Tango was the correct platform for this application?

- Is the app in intuitive?

- Do customers like the app?

We studied these questions, among many others, through neuroscience studies and gathered many insights that are guiding our the future of the app, and the future of home improvement visualization tools. We have since expanded the platform to include a second application - In-Store Navigation, which uses Tango's store mapping

Furthermore, for the first time ever, we sold smartphones in our stores and online. We sold out of the phones online in the very first week, empowering countless customers with this digital power tool.

We have 4.8/5 rating on the Google Play Store.

Insights: The ability to visualize a completed project inspires customers to take action, while the ability to view digital products in-home leads to a 5x higher purchase conversion (Mary Meeker).

3+ years of experience testing AR/VR visualization tools via in-store proofs-of-concept, and more than 1,000 hours of applied neuroscience research, have taught us VR headsets are not ready for mass adoption. These findings guided us to move forward with a more accessible AR platform, Tango.

Target Audience: Any home improvement customer shopping from home.

Relevance to platform: With Tango, handheld devices become the perfect platform for practical, everyday AR applications like this. Tango combines area learning, depth sensing and motion tracking to give devices the ability to see their environment in 3D.

Approach: This application transforms the smartphone into a digital power tool, enabling customers to see real designs and products in their own home. The products are true to size and

Situation: One of the biggest obstacles to completing a home improvement projects is a difficulty visualizing what the completed project or design will look like. This gap represents an $80-billion-dollar opportunity in the home improvement industry.

Brief and objectives: Develop an app that serves as a bridge between inspiration and execution when it comes to home improvement projects. Give customers the confidence they need to begin a project by helping them visualize their style choices in their home, share it with others, and add those products to an easy-to-purchase shopping list.