Augmented reality (AR) shows us the real world but with enhancements. It’s not the same as virtual reality (VR), which creates whole new universes for us to step into. The ability to visualize the real world and its possibilities through AR technology has revolutionized the real estate sector. To understand how and why, take a look at examples of new digital and data solutions that are now commonplace in the real estate timeline from the early stages of prospecting to the final touches of interior design.
Lifestyles and Augmented Reality
Virtual and augmented reality (AR)experiences are encroaching on our lives and helping us make choices in ways that are hard to recognize. In the retail sector, we can select glasses using virtual try-on from the eyeglass manufacturer Warby Parker. We can purchase a new wardrobe from Prada that fits us perfectly without ever visiting the store using the same digital technology.
What glasses suit us best or what clothing we want to wear are two examples of lifestyle decisions driven using AR. Property investment and management decisions are another.
Augmented Reality and Investment
Imagine if, as a property developer or investor, you could tour a building and understand its history, development, and current state of repair in real time. Using AR technology combined with building permit data, it is now possible to see when a roof was last repaired and by which contractor. At the apex where property data meets AR is where the real estate sector is transforming investment decisions.
Augmented Reality and Construction
AR merges digital elements with the physical world revolutionizing the way construction projects are planned, designed, and executed. Technology allows architects, engineers, and contractors to superimpose 3D digital models of buildings onto physical environments. This can help in all aspects of construction and real estate development as early as the blueprint and building permit application stage.
Instead of discussion around 2D images, AR can be used at the interface between authorities and stakeholders to improve the understanding of the building to accelerate permit approvals. A study carried out in Vienna, Austria, significantly accelerated approval processes that otherwise took around eighteen months to complete. As a result, the city plans to redesign building application processes.
Augmented Reality, Safety, and Risk Management
AR headsets and goggles can overlay digital visualizations of building layouts with safety information, such as hazard warnings and instructions. Workers wearing headsets can see these data in their field of vision, keeping them informed and alert. Also, AR simulations of dangerous scenarios can be integrated into safety training programs or used to show workers the layout of infrastructure such as pipes and cables.
Augmented Reality and Remote Teams
With AR, developers, architects, and other key team players visualize and discuss development projects while seeing the same holograms and 3D designs in real-time. Teams are taking virtual walkthroughs of buildings together but remotely. As the geographical and communication barriers disappear, project timelines shorten, mistakes are avoided, and costs are reduced.
AR can be used to help investors and stakeholders make decisions together. For instance, using augmented reality (AR), many investors can view a property in real time, discuss different investment options, and come to mutually informed judgments.
Using data and AR technology, design teams simulate construction projects in a virtual environment, incorporating neighborhood data to show proximity to schools and hospitals, climate data to show the potential effect of weather on projects, and transportation data to help with project logistics.
Augmented Reality and Real Estate Sales
When buildings are completed, AR plays an integral role in property marketing and selling. Many real estate agents and brokers include 3D tours to showcase properties. Matterport is an example of a software that brokers and agents can embed on their websites. The technology uses specialized cameras with infrared sensors that capture multiple images of a location. An AI platform collates the images to create an interactive 3D model. Users virtually navigate the models from anywhere in the world, take guided tours, and experience the spaces as if they were physically present.
Virtual tours are not just used to showcase a property. Potential buyers can visit as often as they like virtually and take measurements of walls, doorways, and floors without ever having to be there holding a tape measure. Buyers in China can view properties in New York, buy them sight unseen, and furnish them.
Real estate photographers use Matterhorn to create immersive experiences through video and 3D imagery. This software can also integrate Google Street View so that potential buyers can explore their neighborhoods, and neighborhood data can show them the local schools, parks, restaurants, and other points of interest.
For busy agents and brokers, guiding potential buyers to virtual property visits saves them time so that they can focus on more serious buyers. It also helps buyers zero in on the properties they are most interested in.
AR, Property Maintenance, and Inspections
In the future, it’s possible that building inspectors and property valuers will use AR to do final walk-throughs or valuations. Valuers will tour a property while viewing comp data provided through an AR headset, and developers will use them to double-check details before inspectors visit.
AR headsets might use AR for property maintenance. As a building manager tours a building or looks at faulty equipment, the image through the headset could overlay data, such as the broken parts and instructions on how to fix those parts.
AR and Interior Design
The idea of overlaying data and images onto digital renderings of homes and buildings is nowhere more applicable than in the world of design. Users of AR are touring properties and adding their own furnishing and décor to imagine the home of their dreams. Interior designers are working with clients, showing digital designs, and instantly changing them to suit client preferences.
Layouts, styles, and colors can all be changed without the need for physical models. A software called Stage glass creates interactive renderings of apartments or houses where users change furnishings in real-time. Houzz is another platform that connects homeowners with designers, architects, and contractors. Also using Houzz, users can take a photo of a room and use AR to place furniture and décor in the space.
Real estate professionals, investors, contractors, insurers, and designers are preparing for the future. They are integrating AR technology and real estate data to better serve their real estate needs and their clients. ATTOM’s data solutions are an integral contributor to this new data-driven real estate industry.
