As mentioned in the previous posting “Extended Reality” (XR) includes: Virtual Reality (VR), 360 Images & Videos (360), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR).
Each of these forms of “reality” have their strengths and weakness when applied to the real estate market, their intended uses, and distribution methods.
This blog post covers the benefits of Augmented and Mixed Realities (AR / MR). In a recent study, the International Data Corp. anticipated that total spending on AR/VR/MR products and services is expected to grow from $11.4 billion in 2017 to nearly $215 billion 2021, most consumers are just now starting to see and experience these products and services.
Augmented Reality (AR)
AR provides a view of the real-world around the user with a “layer” of “augmented” (or added) content placed on top of the view. Currently there are two methods of viewing AR content for the CRE Industry:
Visualize a virtual scaled model of a property as though it was placed on a table, and
Visualize how virtual objects (like furniture or art) will look within a physically existing space.
These each have their benefits but meet specific needs. The first allows you to remove the roof, isolate each floor, look down and around inside the virtual model, and make changes to the 3D scene. But it can only provide a 3rd person point of view (looking at the model from above or around the outside), but not from within.
For a fun example, see this video demonstration of Apple’s latest “iPad and iPhone” based AR Kit 2 technology and multi-player experience.
The second predominate use of AR provides a great tool to imagine what furniture or art or other changes will look like within an existing property… However, as you need to be standing within the actual space to visualize the virtual elements within the real-world, this has a more limited target audience that has access to the actual property. This is great for the marketing and sale of furniture and other interior decorator items, and for visualizing potential remodeling changes.
If the space is completely vacant, then this technology can be used to create a commercial test fit in real-time… while standing within the space. Currently users can add (but not yet remove) walls, place office furniture, and physically walkthrough the designed space to evaluate the resulting circulation paths, area usage, and determine other efficiencies.
Mixed Reality (MR)
MR combines the best elements of VR and AR due to its ability to track the physical objects in the users surroundings and integrate the virtual objects such that they can intelligently interact with the physical objects.
Armed with a tablet loaded with a library of the builder’s virtual houses, any member of the sales team could take a prospective buyer to a selected lot, and then place a selected design on that site… to not only see how it could be placed on that site, but how its placement is impacted by the site’s property lines, setbacks, and surrounding views.
During the construction phase, MR could allow buyers to make selections of various finishes and amenities and see them within the actual building before installation.
Due to the current state of the technology, truly effective applications of Mixed Reality for the CRE industry are considered to be on the “bleeding edge”, as many of its capabilities to integrate the real world with the virtual can be accomplished using Augmented Reality (which is easily available today), without the added hardware (up to $5000 per MR-based HMD) and production costs.
However, this is clearly a technology to keep an eye on as MR is expected to rapidly surpass AR and MR as the technology rapidly evolves, while greatly reducing the cost for production and deployment.
Try a risk-free demonstration to see how Pix-VR can give your business the edge it needs to compete in the modern market.