Imagine a home décor retailer with the convenience of IKEA, the curation of Pinterest, the delivery power of Amazon and the technology of the video game industry.
Welcome to Kabuni, a one-stop design studio—the first of its kind in Vancouver, and the world—where you can meet with an IRL interior decorator, shop for designer furniture and décor on giant touch screens, save and browse inspiration boards, and then arrange your purchases in cutting-edge virtual reality, all before a single dollar has been spent.
Created as an extension of the Kabuni e-commerce app, the 3,000-square-foot brick and mortar studio functions as a collaborative workspace, cafe, gallery, and event venue for Vancouver’s design community and their clientele. The show-stopper, however, is the Kabuni Dream Room, a revolutionary virtual reality suite that allows you to pull your chosen sofas, lamps, and mirrors etc. from Kabuni’s “designer-approved” roster of makers into a hologram simulator in the centre of the room. From there, you can rotate the items 360 degrees to inspect every angle and seam, and then place them onto the walls of a blank room around you to see how they work together to scale.
Then, you just essentially press buy and the products are delivered straight to your door, with a portion of the proceeds going to a charity of the month that works to end homelessness.
Based on the best video game technology going, the level of detail in the simulator is so realistic that you can not only see the texture of that sectional before you buy, but you can see what kind of shadow it will cast on the floor at five o’clock. And the best part? No clumsy VR goggles to muss up your hair as you play. Instead, you are standing in the room directing the design scheme with an iPad like Jillian Harris on the deck of the Starship Enterprise.
No more wondering if that coffee table will be too big for that rug, or if that brass antelope sculpture will clash with that teak armoire. Now, if you can Dream it, you can do it. —Kelsey Klassen
Kabuni Design Studio, 1378 West Pender St., www.kabuni.com
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