09 Jun The New Virtual Tour
Imagine making a cross-country move to a place you’ve never been with no friends or family in town. It’d be incredibly difficult to spend a Saturday morning touring new apartments when you have to hop on a flight, check into a hotel, and then say a prayer to the great realtor in the sky that the luxury apartment you researched isn’t a rat cave. This process can be so strenuous that some just risk it all and sign a lease without even seeing their new place in person. And for the average renter, what else can you do? Travel is expensive and most people simply can’t afford to make weekly trips out of town to visit multiple apartments. Luckily, the real estate industry has heard the cries of inconvenienced renters and has found a way to give you a first-person view of your new home, without the travel and risk. The solution? Virtual reality (VR) and Augmented reality (AR).
VR technology is improving more than just the video game industry. In real estate, this tool is being used to fully immerse renters into the digital landscape of a property. Companies can now design 3D model homes that can be explored anywhere in the world with a VR headset. With the proper VR modifications, you can even explore each room and rearrange furniture. With the implementation of this immersive virtual technology, you no longer need to be onsite to tour an apartment. You can take a walk through of your new home without ever leaving your old one.
AR technology is not fully immersive but it still creates a lifelike and interactive experience, bringing flat 2D floorplans to life. Much like Snapchat’s “world lenses”, which allow users to place objects into their phone’s camera frame that appear as if they are truly there in real life, AR in real estate is changing the way we see the world around us. Not only does this technology allow you to view a 3D model of your preferred floorplan, you can also make changes to the space by modifying and customizing its features to get a glimpse of your ideal home.
With the advent of these innovative technologies in real estate, renters and homebuyers are experiencing a completely new way of researching and shopping for their homes. VR and AR transpose interested shoppers into the property space and give them a view that can only be compared to being physically present onsite. Thus, traveling and spending hours a day at a property is only one of a few options to get a first-person look into your new home. Now that cross-country move doesn’t seem so bad after all.
