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In the age of technological advancements, our world is witnessing an unprecedented convergence of artistry and innovation. From the everyday to the extraordinary, artificial intelligence (AI) has transcended boundaries, rapidly leaving its mark on various fields. Among these, the realm of interior design stands as an area of incredible potential, which is revolutionising the way we envision, create, and experience our living spaces.
In this article, we talk about the potential of AI in interior design, and compare some of the companies trailblazing this technology in the interiors space.
How can interior designers harness the power of AI?
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in the realm of interior design presents a wealth of captivating possibilities. By embracing AI's potential, interior designers can enhance their creative pursuits, streamline workflows, and provide clients with personalised experiences that surpass expectations.
Design inspiration and exploration
AI algorithms, powered by advanced machine learning techniques, analyse extensive design data encompassing architectural styles, colour palettes, furniture arrangements, and historical references. This vast knowledge enables AI to generate personalised design suggestions and recommendations tailored to individual preferences, empowering designers to explore innovative ideas and refine concepts more efficiently. Read more on how to do this with Chat GPT.
Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
AI-driven VR and AR technologies enable designers to create immersive virtual environments, allowing clients to experience realistic previews of their envisioned spaces. By immersing themselves in three-dimensional visualisations, clients gain a deeper understanding of the ambiance, lighting, and spatial relationships, fostering collaborative iterations and delivering more accurate and satisfying outcomes. You can learn more about AR and VR in this article.
Optimising space and functional design
AI algorithms excel at analysing floor plans, room dimensions, and furniture layouts, providing valuable insights into space optimization. By considering factors such as traffic flow, ergonomic considerations, and functional requirements, AI suggests optimal arrangements and identifies potential improvements, enhancing efficiency and usability within interior spaces.
Streamlining material and product selection
The selection of materials, finishes, and furnishings can be a complex task, but AI simplifies the process. By leveraging comprehensive databases and analysing available options, AI takes into account budget constraints, sustainability criteria, and aesthetic preferences. This AI-powered analysis facilitates curated selections tailored to each project, making decision-making easier and ensuring cohesive design choices.
Efficient lighting and energy optimisation
AI analyses various factors, including natural light patterns, user preferences, and energy efficiency goals, to optimise lighting design. With real-time feedback and sensor data, AI systems dynamically adjust lighting levels and colours, creating desired atmospheres while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and operational costs.
Personalization and enhanced user experience
AI enables the creation of adaptive and personalised spaces. By collecting and analysing data on user behaviour, preferences, and habits, AI algorithms learn and anticipate individual needs. This knowledge allows for the customization of lighting, temperature, and other environmental factors, enhancing comfort and well-being. Occupants experience immersive and tailored environments that seamlessly adapt to their unique requirements.
Promoting sustainability and environmental consciousness
AI contributes to sustainable design practices by analysing data on energy consumption, carbon footprints, and material life cycles. With AI-generated insights and recommendations, designers can make environmentally conscious decisions, optimising resource usage and reducing waste, thereby leaving a positive ecological impact.
Comparing the companies making trailblazing AI software
RoomGPT
Powered by Replicate, Upload, Loops, and Vercel, RoomGPT allows you to “Take a picture of your room and see how your room looks in different themes”. In practice, this means that you can upload any picture, specify what kind of room it is, and select a theme among the following: Modern, Minimalist, Professional, Tropical, Vintage, Industrial and Neoclassic.
The app works with remarkable precision, as it identifies the existing structures and elements of the room seamlessly and edits lighting in a naturalistic manner. In contrast to other tools, this app is not afraid to enact some deep changes on the image (e.g. wall texture).
REImagine Home
REImagine Home by Stylod, a virtual staging company, is another company focusing on AI-run interior design software. Their premise is slightly different to other companies’. You start by uploading a picture, and then you can decide how to proceed. Either you let the software “surprise” you, or you take control of the design process. This interface allows much more customization than other company’s, by allowing you to choose from more design styles, edit the mask of where the edit will occur, submitting a colour preference and giving the software specific instructions. You can also choose from the architectural or furnishing options, to change what gets edited or not.
The results are incredibly convincing and accurate, if only more conservative than other tools. The app does a great job of maintaining some elements of the picture, while innovating on others. If not for some very small details, the generated images could convince people they are real.
MagicRoomAI
MagicRoomAl leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to analyse any given space and overlay a diverse array of stunning designs on top, drawing inspiration from an infinite number of sources. In a similar vein to RoomGPT, users can upload an image, select the type of room and style they’d like an image of, and then they can download the results.
MagicRoomAI’s approach to the render is more artistic, opting for added detail instead of simple definition and accuracy. The image style is similar to DALLE 2’s imagery, so we’d recommend checking them out too if this style is what you’re looking for.
To learn more about this app, we hopped on a chat with MagicRoomAI's Founder, Marco. This is what he had to say!
Hi Marco! In your words, how does MagicRoomAI work?
Simply upload any room photo and provide details about the desired room type, style, and other design details. MagicRoomAI will then ‘magically’ redesign the room based on these prompts. Our solution provides some of the most comprehensive style list options available today. It’s also possible for users to include other relevant information such as room details and even specific designer influences using natural language prompts.
How are interior designers using MagicRoomAI right now?
Today MagicRoomAI is commonly used as an initial inspiration tool by designers. In exploratory meetings with clients, it’s an extremely effective visualization tool that can help guide early design discussions. Designers can immediately present room possibilities to their clients without having to pour hours or days of time with traditional design software. Showing clients their rooms instantly reimagined in a multitude of styles feels magical— hence the name!
What is the potential of AI in interior design?
We’re clearly at the very beginning. All the large language models are improving daily at an exponential rate. It’s hard to imagine what will be possible a few years from now. One thing is certain, generative AI will soon become an essential tool for design professionals. It’s unthinkable today to create room renderings without at least the assistance of design software— the same will be true with these tools.
What are some limitations of AI in interior design?
Many of the current AI models sometimes generate odd images with random visual artifacts. Again, this is improving very quickly as the models get better with more datasets.
What's next for MagicRoomAI?
MagicRoomAI is working on custom room models to improve our design outputs. We also plan to integrate features that will immediately generate mood boards from any AI-generated space. MagicRoomAI are actively looking to partner with designers interested in using these next-generation tools and providing feedback.
CollovGPT
CollovGPT is also an AI-powered company that enables users and designers to remodel their spaces by uploading images and generating stylized versions. While only style and room type are editable, CollovGPT is the only software that allows users to choose between structure-preserved or well-designed options. If you don’t want to pay for the pro option, do note that the five free renders you’re allowed to create will be publicly available.
Surprisingly, the structure-preserved and well-designed are strikingly different in their style. The first is more akin to RoomGPT’s realistic broad editing of the scene, while the latter is more digital art inspired than render, edging closer to the images generated by MagicRoomAI.
We also had the amazing opportunity to talk to CollovGPT’s Senior Marketing Specialist, Markk Tong, to talk a little bit about the company and its offering.
Hi Mark, thanks for talking with us! What makes CollovGPT different from other companies in the space?
Hi Portaire! First of all, CollovGPT is much more than an image rendering software. Collov was first founded in Silicon Valley as a digital interior design services company. The online platform allows clients to access interior design outcomes at a more affordable rate by mixing AI-powered moodboarding and a real interior designers’ expertise. Via this service, clients work with an interior designer who deals with the design of the space, and also us, who handle the product management and customer service of interior design materials and furniture.
This service continues to thrive, but now we’ve expanded our offering to include free AI tools. Three of these are currently available on our site. The first is the one you used, which allows you to submit an image and overlay a new stylistic configuration on top with AI.
The second is a community affair, where users train our AI model to create interior design styles other people can use. These vary wildly; from “Rich Dubai” to “Blackpink”, our community is passionate about creating an exciting future for AI and interior design.
Finally, we’re beta-testing an interior design AI assistant, where users can ask for advice and submit imagery for editing all in one place.
Wow, that’s incredible! What are some challenges in the AI space at the moment?
Before 2023, the public perception of AI was limited and fearsome, with many avoiding its use all together. Today, AI is living an incredible moment with a high support rate and even higher hype around it.
However, there is still plenty of room for AI to improve and better suit customers and interior designers alike. The technology is getting better exponentially, but there are still lags, bugs and misunderstandings that hinder the user experience. These will decrease month on month, but they still suppose an important challenge for the industry.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us! What is next for Collov and CollovGPT?
In the long run, we hope to bridge our two business branches to enhance the accessibility of interior design. We believe that interior design shouldn’t be a luxury, and we’re thrilled to bring this art and science to more people.
If you’d like to stay in touch, don’t forget to follow CollovGPT on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Out of the four, we’d recommend REImagine Home for first time users, as it has a large amount of customization and realistic output overall. Nevertheless, all of the softwares are worth trying, as they might be better suited for your needs!
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