DALLAS – Lightovation visitors will have a chance this month to literally step into the future of lighting.
The first-ever Metaverse Lighting TrendHouse debuts in Dallas, an immersive 3D experience that allows people to visualize and experience lighting trends in a lifelike environment.
It is hosted by Dallas Market Center and has been arranged by Leslie Carothers, an expert enthusiast in metaverse applications, and rendered, modeled and designed by Annilee Waterman.
Interior designer Shay Geyer, owner of IBB Design Fine Furnishings in Frisco, Texas, selected the lighting fixtures that exemplify the trends featured in the TrendHouse.
“We have all invested in this project not only because AI, VR and the metaverse are hot topics but because their application is already making an impact on business and lifestyle,” said Cole Daugherty, senior vice president, exhibitor marketing, at DMC.
What it is: Both the virtual walkthrough and the metaverse experiences of the TrendHouse will be virtual representations of a fully furnished and curated home.
Waterman has designed a 2,000 square-feet home complete with a living room, eat-in kitchen, hallway, exterior, principal bedroom and principal bathroom. They are fully designed with furniture and lighting, just like a regular house.
Every Lightovation exhibitor was asked to submit 3D product models to help illustrate four lighting trends outlined by noted trend forecaster Patti Carpenter. Geyer selected roughly 30 fixtures from 20 manufacturers that she felt best represented the trends.
How it works: The TrendHouse uses advanced virtual reality technology. You can explore the TrendHouse in either a one-on-one experience in the virtual walkthrough space or as a community-based experience in the metaverse space using virtual reality glasses. If you do not want to wear virtual reality goggles, you can still explore each trend space in 3D within the kiosk without full immersion. You can also explore the space from a desktop computer, an iPad or a mobile phone.
As you move from room to room, you will see the lighting trends brought to life. The highlighted lighting products will be presented with details about each product and QR codes that can be scanned for additional information and to offer an augmented reality capability. Through the QR codes, you can see what the fixture will look like in a client’s home, if you are interior designer, or in a customer’s home, if you are a retailer and carry that particular product (a sales associate would be able to share the link to the TrendHouse with customers.)
There will also be a dedicated link on DMC’s website so that anyone can log on and visit the showroom or invite people to join them in the metaverse.
While the virtual walkthrough space will offer a more photorealistic view of the lighting trends, DMC said, the metaverse space will allow you to invite friends into it at the same time, as avatars, where you can walk around, chat about what you are seeing and click through on the links you will see. You will be able to move your avatar, like a video game, in the metaverse. Up to 50 people can go into the room at one time as avatars.
Why it’s important: The Metaverse TrendHouse takes a typical showhouse one step further by immersing visitors in it.
“Dallas Market is creating this incredibly cool piece of content,” said Carothers, who is a principal of Savour Partnership, a digital marketing firm. “This will live as a live link on their website as a custom landing page that will go live right after market. It will be free for any designer, retailer, or person to share with anyone – in a newsletter, blog, social, wherever they want … This is where digital marketing is going. This is the future.”
Luxury beauty brands are hugely invested in the metaverse, according to Carothers, and are educating the next generation of consumers who are learning how to interact with these brands. The furniture industry is far behind, Carothers said, but DMC’s TrendHouse is a tremendous first step.
“They need to get the kudos for doing it first. It is a cutting-edge thing they are doing,” she said.
“What appealed to us most was how rapidly technology is changing the nature of product design, interior design and consumer behavior,” Daugherty said. “We hear so many acronyms thrown around in the media but there is a lack of practical examples of their application. So, we view the TrendHouse as an educational tool for how to introduce and use technology as well as a new way to inspire retailers and designers.”