Virtual reality is here to stay

As virtual realty becomes more common among the general public through consoles like the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear and Sony Playstation VR, Realtors have already started to eye ways to integrate it into their own sales techniques.

In Chicago, Belgravia Group took a chance with VR by creating a 360-degree model home VR experience at Renelle on the River. The company converted a conference room at its sales center into a VR gallery. It placed motion-caption sensors in the room so as people moved around the room, they could virtually move throughout the units. While one person was wearing the VR headset, other guests in the room were able to see what the user was seeing on TV screens in the room.

“It far exceeded our expectations, both in the realism along with the impact for the user walking through,” says Jonathan McCulloch, senior vice president at Belgravia Group.

However, because the technology is still so new, McCulloch admits that it is difficult to describe the experience to people who have not tried VR before or those who tried it years ago when it was less refined as an experience.

“It’s really hard to speak and describe the VR experience,” says McCulloch. “Even friends of mine don’t really get what I’m trying to show them. People have their own conceptions of what VR is.”

But McCulloch has seen that once people give it a try, they are quickly converted and realize the benefits of being able to do a walkthrough of a new development and imagine it as their own home.

“We have people who have already signed contracts come back and do it again because it helps them better envision the space and plan for what they want in their home,” he says.

Another player in the VR real estate space is Matterport, which provides both 3D and VR solutions for the real estate industry. According to Sibyl Chen, the director of partner development and communications at Matterport, half of all agents hold at least two open houses per listing and more than a third spend at least three hours preparing for each open house.

“We’ve seen more and more agents adopting VR in 2017, in order to win listings and stand out from their competition,” Chen says. “As the industry gets more competitive, they are using these newer technologies to differentiate themselves, and it’s working.”

As VR technology continues to improve and evolve, Chen says that Matterport is working on providing an even better experience for clients including potentially being able to change and adjust the models, whether it be adding different furniture or changing the paint color on the walls.

In the long term, McCulloch is optimistic about how this could lead to more advanced augmented reality (AR) technology that can help on a construction site by overlaying drawings, designs and blueprints onto a physical space.