IKEA shares a glimpse of home life with imma: japan’s first virtual model

have you ever wondered what a virtual influencer does all day? well, IKEA japan recently teamed up with creative agency, wieden+kennedy tokyo, to share a sneak peek of daily life with imma – japan’s first virtual model. the 3-day installation celebrated the opening of IKEA’s new city shop opposite harajuku station in tokyo.

images and video courtesy of wieden+kennedy tokyo

often seen at events and exhibitions in tokyo and around the globe, imma has earned worldwide fame and over 250 thousand instagram followers. IKEA brought the virtual model to the real world for the very first time by creating an apartment for her inside their new harajuku shop, where they shared the concept of home furnishing solutions for small space living with the youth of tokyo.

anna ohlin, IKEA japan country marketing manager commented, ‘we’ve been working on the launch of our new harajuku shop for a long time and had to change things up a little due to COVID-19, but the purpose remains the same. we want to inspire and help the youth of tokyo to find their own happiness at home. with the pandemic still top-of-mind, this need has become more relevant than ever. by partnering with imma, we can share a new vision of the home with a demographic that IKEA has never spoken to before.’

during the installation, passersby can see her doing everything from dancing and yoga, to more mundane tasks like vacuuming and watering her plants. those who couldn’t visit the real window in harajuku could see the digital window to imma’s daily life via a 3-day livestream on IKEA japan’s youtube channel. imma commented, ‘my day-to-day changed a lot since we started social distancing. it was challenging but I explored different ways of finding happiness at home and I realized the importance of creating my own personal space. i’m so glad that I can share a little insight into my new homelife with the world.’

imma’s living room came to life in an installation at the new IKEA harajuku shop, which combined physical space with LED screens. the color temperature of the LED panels adapted in real time to ensure a seamless blend between the screen and the physical world. light meters tracked the color temperature of the outside world and reacted to daylight and the weather. on top of that, imma’s bedroom was displayed on a large screen on the second floor façade of the shop, which can be seen from harajuku station, with its 110,000 visitors every day.

imma kept her fans updated in her usual fashion, on social media, in real time. when she doodled in the window, we saw the drawing on instagram; when she bounced around the living room, her fans could listen along to her spotify home playlist; when she wasn’t on screen, she was walking her dog around yoyogi park. and yes, he has his own instagram account too, showing another angle into imma’s daily life. 

project info:

project name: IKEA harajuku with imma

creative agency: wieden+kennedy tokyo

virtual human company: aww inc.

visual production: maxilla

installation equipment: systemRASA ltd.

music: massivemusic tokyo

other contributors: undefined inc.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom