See something you like? Buying it is about to get a lot easier. At least, if that “thing” just so happens to be related to furniture and interior design. It’s all thanks to Visual Match, a new visual recognition tool from Houzz that claims to make it “easy for people to discover and buy on Houzz the types of products and materials that inspire them in photos.”
The tool, which is available on both desktop and mobile devices (it’s free for iOS and Android alike), uses deep learning technology to analyze more than 11 million home photos on Houzz. Furniture and decor that looks similar to the six million products on the Houzz Marketplace is then surfaced for users to browse (and hopefully buy).
“People come to Houzz because they want to get everything they need to improve their homes in one place, from inspiration to execution,” said Alon Cohen, Houzz co-founder and president. “Visual Match makes it even easier for people to take action on inspiration, enabling them to view a photo in the Houzz app, tap a product in the photo that they love, and use View in My Room to see the product in their own space before purchasing.”
The View in My Room feature that Cohen references is another new technology Houzz unveiled earlier this year, which helps users virtually place any product from the Houzz Marketplace in their own space. According to the company, 50 percent of users who have made purchases in the Houzz app used this feature to give themselves a little preview of what their purchase would look like in their homes.
With over 15,000 merchants selling on Houzz today, it’s likely that if you’re looking to (re)decorate, you’ll find something that suits your style on this digital marketplace. And with Visual Match, finding that something just might get too easy.
