Ikea catalogue app lets users virtually try out furniture for size The 2014 Ikea catalogue app, which launches on 25 August, lets customers furnish their home digitally Ikea said the technology lets customers place 90 of its products in their rooms 'to enable them to find the perfect fit' The free app will be available in the Apple App Store and Google Play and uses the paper Ikea catalogue to judge the scale of furniture Everyone has been seduced by a squishy new sofa or designer desk in a roomy show room, only to find that they don't fit in their considerably smaller living room. But a new app from Ikea could save consumers from hacking lumps out of bookcases or sheepishly taking back extra large items to the Swedish superstore as it uses augmented reality technology to show consumers what a piece of furniture would look like in their home. The '2014 Ikea catalogue app,' which launches on 25 August, lets customers furnish their home digitally with the help of a traditional paper catalogue. The '2014 Ikea catalogue app,' (pictured) which launches on 25 August, lets customers furnish their home digitally with the help of a traditional paper catalogue Ikea said the technology lets customers virtually place 90 of its products in their rooms 'to enable them to find the perfect fit' as well as test colours and positioning. The free app will be available in the Apple App Store and Google Play and uses the old-fashioned paper Ikea catalogue to judge the approximate scale of the furnishings. It works by measuring the size of the catalogue itself (laid on the floor in the place where the new item of furniture might go) in the camera. The app then creates an augmented reality image of the furnishings so it appears correctly in the room. The free app will be available in the Apple App Store and Google Play and uses the old-fashioned paper Ikea catalogue to judge the approximate scale of the furnishings Ikea said: 'Customers will be able to see what different Ikea sofas, chairs, beds, bookcases, chests of drawers and desks look like in their rooms virtually, simply by using their mobile phone camera.' Research by the home furnishings retailer found many of its customers suffer from 'square peg, round hole syndrome' as 14 per cent say they have bought the wrong-sized furniture for their rooms. Over 70 per cent of shoppers admitted that they do not know how big their homes are, which inspired Ikea to develop the app. Ikea said: 'Customers will be able to see what different Ikea sofas, chairs, beds, bookcases, chests of drawers and desks look like in their rooms virtually, simply by using their mobile phone camera' The shop also said making the most of space in the UK is particularly important as Britons live in the smallest houses in Western Europe, with the average house having approximately just 85 square metres of floor space. Peter Wright, marketing manager of Ikea in the UK and Ireland, said: 'When our designers and interiors experts started to think about how we could use augmented reality to help our customers, we felt that we could solve some of the very real problems they face. 'Our customers want to be able to test out whether the products they've been inspired by in our catalogue will work in their own homes - particularly when it comes to larger pieces of furniture. The app will be available for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets and lets users see 90 pieces of furniture from different angles and in a range of colours Offering a way of using mobile technology to enable to test products means the technology has a practical purpose and really helps customers visualise the way their homes could look. The paper version of the Ikea Catalogue will also get more techie. It will feature over 50 pages that readers can scan with their mobile to get access to additional product information, videos and alternative views of products. Research by Ikea found many of its customers suffer from 'square peg, round hole syndrome' as 14 per cent said they have bought the wrong-sized furniture for their rooms but now they can test it out at home -and take photos of how they would use it, as pictured