Back in the day, before this time of high tech gadgetry with sophisticated cameras and mobile horsepower which can take advantage of constant interconnectivity, real estate agents had to rely solely showing off an attractive site in person, with perhaps a catalogue or four thrown in for good measure that displayed a multitude of potential properties with something for everyone. Nowadays, it is still very much the case that said agent must rely on marketable personalities, an in-depth, professional knowledge of their clients’ needs and the ability to match that with a catalogue of available properties for sale, but their job has just been given a major assist – and a flashy one at that.
While still in relative infancy, augmented reality technology is here to stay. It creates an entirely new, interactive experience for the potential consumer, ultimately helping companies to trigger and speed up the ‘sell house fast’ proceeding. To take one example of such software, a group of private investors have raised a half million dollars for London-based Virtual View App, purportedly the UK’s first ever such software. The Rainmaking Loft-backed app, available on both Android and iOS platforms, works when the user points their mobile device at a code on printed marketing material.
What happens next is something the forebears to our smartphone-laden generation would have only described as magic: a 3D model of the previously flat, static image (on the page of the marketing pamphlet) of property emerges on the phone. It is completely interactive: as you move the phone around the brochure, it is as if you are viewing the property from different angles. Furthermore, 3D floor-pans, photo galleries, and videos are made available upon scanning the image or code on the leaflet.
To describe this content as ‘rich digital content,’ as the app claims in its own marketing copy, almost seems to sell its potential and application short. This technology stands as a revolutionary way for the consumer to interact with the property they are literally eyeing from anywhere, short of the ideal of actually being onsite. It further allows for the impossibility of seeing a an actual property under construction as a completed unit, enabling the customer to envision the potential finished product as it was intended by the architects and neighbourhood planners.
For this reason, it is no surprise that the co-founder of this app, Dominic Versae, states that, ‘with the competition between estate agencies now greater than ever, property marketing has become increasingly important, and we believe that the Virtual View App is the property marketing solution of the future.’ He also has reason to be optimistic for the future of his app and this kind of tech in general: ‘Interest from the industry has so far been very positive, so much so that we have already started discussions around the next stage of fundraising in order to further develop the business.’ The future of this exciting tech is unchartered, but one thing is clear: augmented reality apps are here to stay in the world of real estate.