Contract furniture manufacturer Allsteel Inc. recently launched the KITS Collaborator, a free augmented reality iPad application allowing users to develop furniture layouts for any environment. Concurrently, the company is rolling out the “Where Would You Gather” competition, an opportunity to try out the new app. The contest is open for entries until September 14.
The competition is simple. Participants download the app, take a photo of a location, and then use the app to design a one-of-a-kind place where they would like to gather, incorporating Allsteel’s collaborative furnishings. Entries uploaded to the contest website, www.wherewouldyougather.com, are eligible to win an all-inclusive Grand Prize trip for two to NeoCon 2013 in Chicago, custom Gather furnishings including a Linger chair and a Scooch ottoman, and American Express gift cards.
The KITS Mobile app is surprisingly powerful for something so user-friendly. It engages the iPad’s camera, creating to-scale onscreen environments from the device’s snapshots, which can then be furnished with a simple swipe of the user’s finger. It also allows users to move Allsteel furnishings around within the space, change materials, color combinations and finishes, and produce unlimited high-resolution photo-realistic renderings within seconds. A series of easily accessed functions and controls allows users to add, remove, duplicate, change or group products together; or they can toggle between photo view, 3D view, plan view or elevation view. Selected furnishings are dragged and dropped into place, and the app uses a series of advanced algorithms to effectively determine the geometric ground plane, sizing each item appropriately as it is positioned in the environment. It’s a technological breakthrough that has been achieved without the need for a ‘marker’ traditionally required to accurately assess and calculate space dimensions.
Seeking to make all of its digital tools more effective and intuitive, Allsteel has recently re-launched its website, www.AllsteelOffice.com, as well. Boasting pared-down navigation and optimized browsing and search tools, the highly interactive site allows visitors to explore Allsteel’s impressive product portfolio and utilize planning tools like CAD and Revit data to incorporate favorites into their designs. Like KITS, the new site was intended to streamline the selection and design process for customers, increasing productivity and profitability. For more information on Allsteel and its complete digital toolkit, visit www.Allsteeloffice.com. +
Related Stories
| Sep 22, 2014
Swanke-designed Eurasia Tower opens in Moscow
The 72-story tower—the first mixed-use, steel tower in Russia—is located within the new, 30 million-sf, 148-acre Moscow International Business Center.
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.
| Sep 19, 2014
8 hot healthcare projects win interior design awards
Winners of IIDA's 2014 Healthcare Interior Design Competition include Perkins+Will, AECOM, Buffalo Design, and SmithGroupJJR, for projects from Cincinnati to Toronto.
| Sep 18, 2014
Final designs unveiled for DC's first elevated park
OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 17, 2014
The doctor is in: New consortium to fund research of design's influence on public health
The AIA Design & Health Research Consortium has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches.
| Sep 17, 2014
New developments in data center design
From the dozen or so facilities housing Google’s 900,000 servers to the sprawling server farms of Facebook to Amazon’s seven sites scattered around the world, today’s data centers must accommodate massive power demand, high heat loads, strict maintenance protocols, and super-tight security. This AIA Discovery course is worth 1.0 AIA CES HSW learning units.