IKEA Japan gave virtual model Imma a real shop-window apartment

IKEA Harajuku needed to make home furnishing interesting to Tokyo youth who often live in small spaces and may treat home as purely practical. D&AD says IKEA Japan gave virtual model Imma a physical home for the first time in the store window.

The installation was not just a poster with a CGI celebrity. Imma appeared to live in the room for 72 hours, viewable in the street, by livestream and on social media. Max Pilwat's project page says LED panels adjusted colour temperature in real time to blend the physical apartment and screen world.

The room became commerce. D&AD says Imma's home life acted as a shoppable product demonstration, with her product collection available in-store and online. NewView later noted the project won a Webby category and D&AD Wood Pencil.

Make the virtual influencer inhabit the store

It solved the 'virtual influencer' credibility gap by anchoring Imma in a physical room.

The 72-hour duration made the window feel live, not like a static launch display.

Livestream and social updates gave remote viewers the same narrative as passersby.

Every domestic action doubled as a product demonstration for small-space living.

To make a virtual spokesperson sell real goods, give them a real space where the goods solve visible daily needs.

The work appeared in D&AD's 2021 Commerce archive and was separately listed by Bizcommunity as a Wood Pencil in New Realities & Emerging Media. It showed how a store window can become a mixed-reality media channel, not just merchandising.