Sony website uses augmented reality to test TVs in rooms
updated 05:20 pm EDT, Thu August 25, 2011
Helps visualize how TV would look on room wall
Sony UK is offering an online tool that helps perspective TV buyers visualize how a screen would look in their own house. The TV Size Guide is a web-based app that will create images of different size TVs superimposed over a rendering of a wall of their apartment or house. The would-be buyer can then compare different sizes and then get detailed information on the best fit.
Using the tool is straightforward. The user first downloads and prints out a "marker". The marker is then placed either on a wall or on top of a piece of furniture where the TV will go. The user then snaps a picture of the marker in position and uploads it to Sony's special site. The app then creates an image of a TV in a specified size and merges it, in the appropriate perspective, onto the position where the user would imagine the device would be placed. The prospective buyer can even select from different scenes that will appear on the screen. The user is then presented with images of TVs of different sizes to that they can compare against different types.
Augmented reality has been used to help choose TVs before, primarily by Panasonic, but has demanded a mobile app. Sony's option potentially helps shoppers check the fit on the same system they're likely to use to buy the TV, or without having to have a smartphone.
