Pinterest wants to show you how the sofa looks in your home

Pinterest, the social network where people collect images for inspiration, is testing a new feature called Restyle. It's meant to make it easier to go from looking at beautiful pictures to actually buying.

The idea is that you take a photo of your own room at home and ask an artificial intelligence, a type of computer program that can recognize and change images, to imagine changes. You can, for example, ask it to add new furniture, plants or art on the wall, including things you've found on Pinterest. You can also change lighting or wall colors, or turn the whole room into a different style, for example a bohemian or industrial look. You can even click on individual items in the image and ask to have them swapped out or removed.

The technology behind the feature

Behind the feature is what Pinterest calls Pinterest Intelligence. It's a combination of the company's own AI models, shared technology that other companies can also use (so-called open source), and powerful computer chips from the company Nvidia. The aim is for users to see better how an idea would actually look in their own home before deciding to spend money on it.

Pinterest's CEO, Bill Ready, says artificial intelligence in general is changing the way people express themselves visually, and that tools like Restyle are therefore becoming more important to users. Pinterest itself describes the goal as helping people go from thinking "what if" to saying "that's what I want."

Restyle is so far only an early test version available in the US and Canada. Several sources indicate that the feature will roll out more widely over the coming weeks, with October mentioned as the time for a fuller launch. Nothing has yet been announced about whether or when the feature will come to Europe or Denmark, and no possible price has been disclosed.

From inspiration to purchase

The feature should be seen in light of the fact that Pinterest has at the same time launched a new type of ad that appears directly in search results when you look for inspiration on the site. Pinterest has more than 80 billion searches a month, and most of them are about looking at images. The company is therefore betting on making it easier to turn that inspiration into actual purchases, and Restyle is an important part of that plan.

For Danish users, this means in practice that you can't try the feature yet. For now, you'll have to settle for following whether and when Pinterest chooses to bring Restyle to Europe.

What it means for you

Right now you can't use Restyle if you live in Denmark, so it's mostly something to keep an eye on. If you're the type who uses Pinterest for home inspiration, it's worth watching whether the feature comes to Europe. If it does roll out here, you'll be able to quickly test new furniture or colors in your own room before you buy anything.