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LOS ANGELES – Fernish, a furniture rental startup company that provides furniture as a subscription model to consumers, has recently partnered with Renovai, a virtual AI shopping assistant, to create an AI-based interior designer. The Virtual Designer, which released early this month, predicts and recommends everything from furniture basics to accent pieces based on a person’s style, space and budget.
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According to the company, the key differentiator with the Virtual Designer technology is that the data comes from machine learning based on design rules and an individual’s style preferences, not the taste of a single interior designer nor general segmentations.
The process of building a Virtual Designer requires automated deep tagging of products from general descriptors including type, style and color to very detailed information like how the legs of a bed frame may be straight or splayed or how a chair has a buttoned backrest. An AI-based shopper analysis is required to determine core patterns about customer’s style requirements as well.
The AI program offers a design quiz feature both at the top of the process and right before the end of the process with the “complete the look” tool. This allows the machine-based designer to build a style profile before beginning the shopping process and to make recommendations on how to add to the space and compliment what the customer has selected at the end, resulting in making sure a customer does not already have a bed on the way and then realize they should have gotten matching nightstands after the fact.
Fernish also offers free delivery, free assembly and the ability to swap out and return items at any time.
“The Virtual Designer is personalized and knowledge-based,” said Fernish Director of Product Nina Klein. “Similar to Netflix or other recommendation engines, it’s about directing you to what you would like based on the knowledge of what you already like. That’s a level of intelligence and insight that’s novel for people when it comes to shopping for furniture, which is often a very expensive and intimidating experience.”
