Master thesis AI-based Home Furnishing

Hej Master thesis student,    

Do you want to furnish the future to make room for everyone?   

With us, you can feel at home at work while sharing that feeling with millions of people around the world. We encourage you to stand up for yourself and others, creating an environment where everyone feels welcome. We invite you to open new doors, embrace mistakes, and grow from them. As our Master thesis student, you’ll have many opportunities to try things you’ve never done before.   

We are now looking for a student who wants to write their Master thesis at IKEA of Sweden from mid-January to June 2026. Your key assignment is to explore indoor scene understanding with affordance prediction.       

Your new assignment  

Recent advancements in deep learning and sparse-view reconstruction have improved the quality and speed of indoor scene modelling. Integrating human context and functionality into these models is interesting to look at. The work explores 3D scene understanding with affordance prediction to recommend furniture that fits both spatial and functional context of a room.  

The deliverables are:  

• Literature review on 3D scene understanding and affordance prediction  

• Reproduce existing SOTA methods for scene reconstruction  

• Integrate human pose/context to predict spatial affordances relevant to furniture placement  

• Create and experiment with custom datasets and test real-world generalization  

• Document findings and present results to the lab.

What we’d like you to bring to the table   

We think that you:   

• Are currently studying computer science or related fields.  

• Are curious, motivated and eager to learn about computer vision and 3D.  

• Have strong skills in programming.  

• Enjoy working in an international and multi-disciplinary team.  

• Are fluent in English.  

More information   

Inter IKEA Group is the group of companies that connects IKEA franchisees with range development and suppliers and aligns the overall IKEA strategic direction. Every day, we strive to develop, produce, and sell products and services that are affordable and accessible to everyone. With us, you contribute to building a democratic brand and workplace that has a positive impact on both the planet and people's lives.   

This assignment belongs to the Digital Emerging Technologies department in Range Operations. During your thesis you will have a dedicated mentor. We offer you some time to work in our department in IKEA (Älmhult) where you have the opportunity to make an impact on future technological trends. We offer flexibility in location, allowing you to be based anywhere in Sweden. On occasions where a visit is mutually agreed upon with your IKEA mentor, we will reimburse the associated travel costs.  

Please note: To apply for this thesis assignment, you have to be enrolled in a thesis course at university level at a Swedish University.  

 
We welcome your application   

Get ready to assemble something new! We look forward to receiving your application by the 31st of October. Please submit both your CV and motivation letter in English. We will start reviewing applications as they come in, so don’t wait to apply!   

In case you are two students wishing to write this thesis together we ask you to please submit one application each and clearly state the other person’s name your wish to collaborate with.  

At IKEA, we are looking for people who believe everyone deserves a seat at the table. You’re welcome no matter where you come from, what you believe, or what you look like. We don’t even care how you have furnished your home. We’re interested in you simply because you’re you. We believe that people’s different perspectives, backgrounds, and personalities make us better at understanding our customers’ dreams and needs.    

If you have a special need that requires accommodation in the recruitment process, just let us know.     

For any questions about the role please contact muhammad.imran@inter.ikea.com. If you have any questions regarding the recruitment process, please contact erik.jakobsson2@inter.ikea.com.  

We look forward to hearing from you!