Home furnishings and décor online retailer Wayfairis today launching a new virtual interactive decorating tool on its site for its shoppers.

Dubbed Patio Playground, it represents the company’s first-party virtual reality application, available on the Oculus Rift Experiences store.

Developed by Wayfair Next, the company’s in-house research and development team and using Facebook’s Oculus Rift platform, Patio Playground “allows shoppers to immerse themselves in an inspirational landscape, where they can explore, rearrange, and discover furniture and décor from Wayfair’s catalog,” the company explained.

Steve Conine, Wayfair’s co-chairman and co-founder, elaborated: “By combining our advanced first-party 3-D scanning and visualization capabilities with Facebook’s virtual reality headset, the Wayfair Next team has created an interactive and entertaining way for customers to get inspired and browse items for their home.”

Shoppers can participate in Patio Playground by using an Oculus Rift headset and a hand-held controller. From there, they are introduced to a lakeside scene where they can browse Wayfair’s virtual catalog, selecting outdoor furniture and décor to design their own backyard setting.

“Patio Playground provides users with a new way to find design inspiration,” Conine went on. “Virtual reality is a truly transformative discovery platform, and we are excited to harness this technology as we continue to deliver an exceptional shopping experience.”

Wayfair’s Patio Playground can be downloaded on the Oculus Rift Experiences store. Also, a demo is available at the Wayfair YouTube channel.

(Source: Home Textiles Today)