Geomagical Labs

2020: IKEA buys the company

On April 2, 2020 it became known that the Californian startup of Geomagical Labs which is engaged in development of technologies of augmented reality becomes a part of the Swedish producer of furniture and home decoration of IKEA.

Conditions of purchase do not reveal. But investors of Geomagical among whom there are founders of discount service Groupon were "extremely satisfied" with the reached agreements.

"We on the advanced high-precision visual reconstruction of premises and photorealistic augmented reality" — it is said on the website Geomagical.

Geomagical develops the solution which will allow to scan the room using the camera of the smartphone and to create its virtual copy in mobile application, having removed at the same time all furniture existing in this reconstruction. Further, as the CEO of Geomagical Brian Totty says, the user will be able "to be tried on", adding to 3D - visualization new objects according to scale.

This solution interested in IKEA. The company is going to use it on the website and in proprietary mobile applications. The producer considers that the solution will allow to create more exact visualization and will help buyers up to one purchase better to provide as these or those goods will look at their place.

IKEA decided to purchase Geomagical, but not just to use its developments on a paid basis because considered them "exclusive and disruptive", shared the Chief Digital Officer of IKEA Barbara Martin Coppola.

She added that Geomagical technologies will be free for buyers of IKEA and that the company is not going to share them with other producers.

It should be added that IKEA already has an application with augmented reality — IKEA Place. It allows to see how this or that subject from the directory, for example, the chair or a sofa, will look in an interior of the buyer. The company of one of the first released the similar application after Apple and Google provided the corresponding tools for developers.

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