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Lowe’s going virtual with in-store consumer design, preps 3D printer for space station

Retail home improvement player Lowe’s is going virtual with a consumer-facing design service and also plans to be the first retailer to push product into space.

October 30, 2015

Retail home improvement player Lowe’s is going virtual with a consumer-facing design service and also plans to be the first retailer to push product into space.

Lowe’s innovation hub, called Lowe’s Innovation Labs, is partnering with Made in Space, an aerospace company to launch a commercial 3D printer to space in 2016. The printer will be used by astronauts at the International Space Station and be the first ever permanent additive manufacturing facility.

"Lowe's and Made in Space share a vision of how 3D printing can revolutionize retail and home improvement, while also changing the way astronauts work in space," said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe's Innovation Labs, in an announcement. "This is just the beginning of a broader partnership with Made in Space that will bring tools to space and new technology to Earth."

"For the first time, astronauts can now manufacture what they need, when they need it in space," said Jason Dunn, chief technology officer and co-founder of Made in Space. "We have successfully demonstrated the technology's capabilities in space. And now with the launch of the permanent additive manufacturing facility to the ISS, we are enabling humanity to manufacture things off the planet."

Simultaneously Lowe's is launching the next-generation its Holoroom, an in-store and at-home virtual reality design tool that lets customers design the room of their dreams.

In 2014, Lowe's Innovation Labs introduced its first proof of concept, the Lowe's Holoroom. The augmented reality design experience was successfully tested in stores in the Toronto area for six months and led to the next-generation Lowe's Holoroom that will be installed in 19 stores across the United States beginning next month. 

The Holoroom has evolved from a single platform augmented reality solution to a virtual reality design and visualization tool that leverages Oculus Rift optic technology in stores and Google Cardboard viewers that consumers can take home.

Lowe's Innovation Labs and Google collaborated to create a shareable Holoroom experience that combines YouTube's 360-degree video capabilities with Google Cardboard to enable customers to enjoy and share their virtual kitchen or bathroom design whenever and wherever they choose.

"The next-generation Holoroom continues to fulfill our long-term vision for how augmented and virtual reality technologies can help customers have more confidence and more fun with home improvement," Nel said. "We can't wait to see what our customers create as they bring their imagination to life with these new tools."