Is Augmented Reality The Future Of Fab?

Remember Fab? The home furnishings and fashion accessories online retailer that was once valued at $1 billion is banking on an updated iOS app that includes augmented reality tech to buttress its floundering business.

The augmented reality tech allows a customer to “see” firsthand how a piece of artwork or home furnishings décor will look inside their home, according to Internet Retailer.

Fab’s new app feature works like this: Using the product page of the app, a customer can hit the “Visualize” button and is then presented with a three-step tutorial on how to use the augmented reality function. Basically, the app tells the customer to draw a tic-tac-toe board on a plain sheet of white paper then hang the paper on the wall where they would want the artwork to hang. Once the customer points their smartphone at the paper, the app shows them how the artwork will look on the wall.

From there, the app lets the customer place the artwork in a shopping cart and even purchase the item and check out through the app, which Fab is hoping will further simplify its retail business and boost sales.

Emil Bergh, Fab’s senior UX designer, said that the technology grew out of a hackathon the company held in February that tasked developers to find ways to “reinvigorate” the company and its image, according to Internet Retailer.

“Mobile is very important and a big focus for us right now,” Bergh told Internet Retailer.

Fab was acquired for $15 million in 2015 by PCH International, a company that makes technology products for Apple and “helps entrepreneurs turn ideas into brands.”

It remains to be seen if Fab’s augmented reality application will indeed reinvigorate its brand.