“We are not talking about the complete replacement of designers with neural networks”: an interview with Kirill Rostovsky, the creator of an AI repair service
Miscellaneous / / July 24, 2023
We understand how the "fitting" of wallpaper on the walls of a real apartment works.
Repair is called pain and a test of couples for strength. But it seems that the situation may change - AI will make interior planning more fun and easier. We talked with product designer Kirill Rostovsky about the possibilities of neurons in home improvement.
Kirill Rostovsky
Senior Product Designer at Material Bank, an architectural design platform. He is working on an AI service for visualizing finishes in his own interior.
- Please tell us about your project. What is this service and why is it needed?
I am working on creating a visualizer for interior design. Usually renovation is a stressful process. Perhaps the unequivocally pleasant part ends with viewing pictures on Pinterest. And then it gets more and more difficult - you need to somehow shift the aesthetic stories to the realities of your home, choose combinations of shades, calculate materials, understand the cost of different options, and much more.
This is not easy to do without the ability to figure out how everything will look together. And not in abstract rendering, but in your own home. After all, how many stories happen when a person chooses a cool bathroom tile, and then gets upset that after repair she looks very different. We have created a service that will make it easier to choose and avoid mistakes - through the ability to "try on" different style solutions in your space.
How did you come up with the idea for this service?
Pretty funny. I was asked to research "fix that interior" games. The ones where they show a cartoon-like space with poorly chosen materials, and the player improves it and changes the finishes, and gets points for successful combinations. In the process of studying, I realized that such game mechanics can be made photorealistic and applied to a real repair. Then I started immersing myself in gaming and architectural software, meeting with designers. And then develop the concept of the service.
— What makes the process realistic? Is it some kind of technology?
There are several areas of work here. Firstly, users can upload photos of their interiors, and then, using a neural network, naturally and realistically change the necessary elements to them. For example, put a new floor, repaint the walls, redo the facade of the kitchen.
Secondly, there are no fictitious colors and textures on the platform - only real materials from stores. Brands send us their samples, which we scan and convert into a digital version. This process is divided into several stages, at each of which we check how the type of material on the platform matches what the store provided.
Then everything flows from the digital world to the physical one: directly in the application, the material can be added to the basket and ordered from the manufacturer. And if the price seems high, the interface offers similar options from more budget categories.
- It turns out that the neural network takes into account different lighting scenarios? Or use what's in the photo?
Lighting can be changed. Designers always check how the sample looks in different light. Therefore, I added to the features of the platform the ability to switch from one lighting scenario to another and check the compatibility at different times of the day.
- And how to independently understand that the compatibility is successful? Suddenly I like it, but it looks tasteless?
Well, you know, when you yourself like your house, it's already good. But I included hints and mini-tutorials in the service. Artificial intelligence advises options that look good with each other, takes into account personal preferences, and warns of risks. For example, when trying to “try on” paint for dry rooms in the bathroom, the program will warn you that you should choose a water-repellent one.
By the way, about designers. It seems that many problems can be solved by hiring an interior specialist, no?
Partly yes. But, firstly, interior design is a rather expensive service, and not every budget has funds for it. Secondly, some people want to plan their own space. Someone is in a hurry and cannot wait for a busy design studio to get to their project. Someone is simply fascinated by thinking through the interior.
The problem is that when a person is left alone with the repair, he has practically no tools to work with - and a huge margin for error.
The risk of doing something wrong creates a lot of frustration and delays repairs. I believe that this process should be reviewed and facilitated. After all, shaping the space around is important, because it ultimately shapes us.
Does this mean that interior designers can be replaced by technology?
I think not. Being able to chat with a live person whose taste you like is cool and rewarding. It's nice to get an outsider's perspective, even when you want to come up with everything yourself. At Matrial Bank, we invite a design community - a pool of specialists who can be contacted for an assessment or advice. And choose a designer whose vision interior you are more likely to fit, algorithms will help. That is, we are not talking about the complete replacement of designers with neural networks. It is rather about an alternative way of interacting with them - co-creation, co-creation.
— Considering that the idea of the service was born from games, does it have any game features — for example, achievements or level unlocks?
Yes, there are game mechanics, interactions, and inspiring things like beautiful mood boards of goods that AI collects, focusing on the taste of the user. Or the ability to like the interiors of other people. But I think that game mechanics in repair services should be moderate. We want to inspire a person to solve a real problem and make himself a beautiful home, and not drown in exciting game mechanics and an endless stream of other people's interiors.
- You said about "the formation of space, which then forms you." Can you tell me more about this approach?
I took this from the philosophy of the surrounding space and architecture. I always remember life Coco Chanel. She spent her childhood in the ascetic Obazinsky monastery, and, as she herself mentioned, this determined her emphatically simple and functional style, where the iconic pattern is the “little black dress”. Our home shapes us, influences our behavior, taste and perception of ourselves.
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