Artsy adds new AR feature to app so you can virtually ‘hang’ art on walls before you buy

Just like IKEA’s augmented reality (AR) app for testing furniture – you can now virtually ‘hang’ a piece of art chosen from the Artsy app on your wall to see what it looks like before you buy.

Global online buying and selling store, Artsy, has used Apple’s ARKit 1.5 with its vertical plane improvements released in iOS 11.3 to build the feature. It recognises vertical surfaces as well as horizontal surfaces so you can place a digital version of a chosen artwork on within your physical environment, as seen through your iPhone screen, before deciding whether to buy it online. It’s much like picking a piece of IKEA furniture using the IKEA Place app, and virtually placing it in your lounge to see what it would look like.

All you need to do is download the free Artsy app (for iOS only), select from the store’s over 800,000 artworks and choose the ‘In Room View’ icon to see how it fits in your living room or on your bedroom wall. See how it works below.

Bear in mind this feature only works if you have an iPhone.

And just for fun, you can try it with iconic paintings such as the Mona Lisa and Scream.