This gimmick has some whiz-bang feel to it – hat tip to swm:
SEATTLE – Kyle Chabot-Maltz “walked” on a tour through one of Seattle’s newest high-rise condos Thursday. He checked out the tower’s decks, the kitchens and bathrooms. The thing is, the tower, Luma, isn’t even off the ground yet. Construction just recently started and the 23-story complex should be finished next spring.
How did Kyle’s tour happen? Virtual reality.
“If something’s not built-out in this case, it’s a lot better way to view it or envision it,” he said.
An Oculus Virtual Reality headset and a hand control helps him walk through the project. Luma’s sales center saw the technology as a chance to give potential buyers a better chance to experience something that’s not there yet.
“It’s very important for the buyers to understand how they will live in their space,” said Suzi Morris, regional head for Lowe Enterprises, the company in charge of the project. “In the past we would have full-scale models of the building and you could kind of point and say, this is where your unit will be.”
An iPad app also lets users change the colors of condo finishings and see what views are like from different floors.
Developers estimate the technology, programming and development, view photography and interior/exterior/amenity renderings that comprise the Luma Oculus experience and iPad application cost around $100,000.
“But when you think about that traditional sales center model where you’re leasing out, say 1,200 square feet, which we have, you’re leasing out 2,000 to 3,000 feet in order to build out a full model unit you could walk through,” Morris said. “The cost of the technology and the hardware that goes along with it is substantially less expensive and more impactful.”
Read full article here:
I work in this space and this will eventually become standard for high end projects.
So get yourself a 6×10 efficiency for 650/mo and wear the VR gear all the time!
I know matterport technology is getting pretty popular with large apartment complexes. Granted that’s for existing properties, but it certainly seems were headed in that general direction.