Service for creating floor plans and interiors

Exactly a year ago, my partner and I decided to become startups. More precisely, they realized that now we are startup partners. How our life has changed after that is the topic of a separate article. Now I would like to pay attention to our brainchild - the service of planning rooms and interiors.

So, a couple of years ago, both founders almost simultaneously got into the life situation that everyone has - the time has come for repairs.



We, as IT specialists, immediately began to look for some kind of system that would help us at least somehow plan our plans. After a meticulous research, we were left with nothing. Why? Because, as demanding developers, they were looking for the perfect software.

What in our understanding was ideal:
- lack of Flash;
- operability on both computers and tablets;
- 3D-mode with the possibility of rotation in real time, and not a prerender from 8 angles;
- cloud storage, i.e. the ability to return to stored data from different devices;
- sharinga, after all, repair is a joint matter, therefore it’s impossible for a wife to share a plan, not to mention the repair performers;
- simplicity, because we did not want auto-cade, we wanted the Sims game, only a little more closer to reality;
- no need to pay for the service;
- Well, just an adequate interface.

To be honest, there are many similar services, floorplanner.com, homestyler.com are some of the best. All we found was flash and flash again, some uncomfortable interfaces, lack of elementary functionality (for example, geometry is a bit more complicated than a square room), pseudo 3D (fixed viewing angles, or just prerenders), etc.

We did not give in to our criteria for choosing a service. As experienced developers, and by that time we had already worked for several years as a team in a team of a programmer / designer, we made our own service. At first it was a prototype that allowed you to create floor plans with arbitrary geometry and the ability to arrange a minimal set of furniture there. Later, having passed the qualifying round and received an invitation from the Farminers incubator, we discarded all extraneous matters and devoted all our time only to the planner.

We have already solved our problems, I made repairs in the apartment, my partner built a house. And now we want to turn this into a full-fledged public service.

What is Planner 5D right now?

The foundation

The service is developed using HTML5, it runs on any device where it is supported. It can even be a TV if it is equipped with a browser (in particular, we tested Panasonic and Samsung personally).

Graphics

2D is a vector (SVG), and 3D is WebGL, so everything works within a browser. We are constantly trying to improve the quality of the picture. In addition to dynamic shadows, highlights, etc., we made it possible to change the materials of objects. Those. for any, say, sofa, you can change both the upholstery (fabric, leather ...) and the tree of legs, frame, etc.

Work with the scheduler

We try as much as possible to make it simple, this is one of the main priorities. The goal was to make a sim of the Sims. Sometimes it seems to us that we have achieved our goal.

Community and socialization

In addition to sharing on Facebook and Twitter, we want to make a full-fledged internal community. With a common gallery of user projects, discussion, etc.

Building in. Advanced share

One of the features that we gladly implemented was embedding on third-party resources. Any layout can be embedded as a YouTube video or Yandex / Google maps. We copy the code, paste it on the website, voila.



There is also the possibility of exporting the resulting pictures in high resolution (jpg or png).

Cloud

(also tired of this term, but what to do?)
All data is stored on the server, i.e. the user can start creating the layout at home on the iPad, continue in the office from the browser, and show the result in the evening to the whole family on the TV. If there is no connection to the server at the time of saving the data, the project is saved locally and then sent to the server as soon as possible.

For end users, the service is absolutely free. We earn money by entering into partnership agreements with manufacturers / retailers of furniture, plumbing, household goods, wallpaper, windows, doors, etc.

Partners either embed the planner on their website, letting customers “try on” the selected product, or they place their products in our catalog, directly on the Planner 5D website.

In addition, we cooperate with the real estate sector. Soon, several projects will be launched that the planner will use as an option on their site for the sale / rental of houses and apartments.

In the near future, the release of a separate application on the iPad (we think closer to November). There, on the tablet, augmented reality. Those. “Fitting” of furniture, decoration materials and household goods directly in your premises, based on the created layout.

We know that the service is not perfect, and every day we improve it. Maybe this is wrong, but we try to implement everything that users ask. Often they write letters asking to add this or that object, and sometimes new functionality. And we try to implement the request as quickly as possible. After all, the service, although done by our own hands, is embodied in it by the desires of users, because it is absolutely a “user” project.

In early summer, I spent a whole month in Silicon Valley, showing the service at various thematic parties, company representatives and investors. The feedback was huge. Most importantly, people liked it and they are waiting for the development of the product.

Having the courage, we offer our beloved Habr to evaluate our work :) We do not hope for leniency, we are waiting for absolutely honest, but constructive criticism :)

Links:
Site: planner5d.com
Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwXQkhsMRRA
Facebook: www.facebook .com / Planner5D

If suddenly someone would be interested to know about the technical part or about what and how the project was implemented, we will write a separate post with pleasure.