In an increasingly digitised world, it’s no wonder AR (augmented reality), and VR (virtual reality) technologies play a huge role in home design. Let’s look into 5 things you need to know to understand why AR and VR technologies are upping the home design game.
Getting started
The first thing you might ask is, “AR and VR technology: are they the same?” The simple answer is “no, they aren’t”, and let’s take a quick look at why.
In terms of real estate and home design, virtual reality (VR) uses a headset, and augmented reality (AR) uses a smart device such as a tablet or smartphone to view a digital representation of a home.
To give you an idea of the experience, virtual reality (VR) creates a virtual home that the buyer experiences in 1:1 scale while wearing a VR headset. When a buyer wears the headset, they can explore the off-the-plan property as if it were built and can even experience 4K drone scanned views that show them the view from every corner of the space. EnvisionVR refers to this experience as a VR walk-through.
VR and AR technologies offer an avenue for designers, sales agents, builders and buyers to communicate ideas clearly. They also make sure there are no miscommunications in the design process.
1. Full immersion
Arguably the most exceptional benefit of VR and AR technology is its ability to create a fully immersive and highly interactive experience. When a buyer is looking to purchase a new home, they want to see what a furnished and decorated space will look like. Instead of examining a plain 2D model, potential buyers can virtually walk through a home in VR. They can take in the colours of the walls, the height of ceilings, the placement of furniture and the exact fixtures in 1:1 scale. By using vivid virtual technology, you increase the buyer’s certainty and create a feeling of realness.
2. Improved visualisation
One of the most challenging parts of the home design process is communicating how the finished project will look. While design professionals are used to interacting with 2D models and can visualise with ease, your average buyer doesn’t have to same background and experiences. VR and AR technologies give the buyer a better sense of what the home will look like using a form of representation similar to what they experience in everyday life.
3. Clear communication
If the buyer can properly visualise the space and its elements, this leads to fewer costly miscommunications about what the finished home will look like. Through the use of EnvisionVR’s App, buyers can view the design in different styles ensuring the finished product is exactly what they expected.
4. Ability to implement changes quickly
Using EnvisionVR’s technology, the sales agents can now show an alternative colour scheme or style of a room to better fit the buyers’ preferences. Previously, an agent could explain how the home would look with a different colour scheme, but the buyers might not have been able to imagine it. This would negatively impact sales conversations simply because the buyer couldn’t visualise living in the home. By simply clicking a button, the sales agent can present a different style of room that is personalised to the buyer.
5. VR in home design is here to stay
As more home design and furnishing companies introduce interior design apps, buyers are not only more accustomed to using virtual reality, they expect to see it. Companies such as Ikea already use AR apps to let buyers try out how a piece of furniture will look in their homes. Similarly, Shopify recently acquired Primer, a virtual reality startup that allows customers to visualise paints, wallpaper and tiles in their home. With the change of Facebook’s name to Meta and the introduction of the “Metaverse” this year, it’s clear that VR and AR technologies are here to stay and will become an increasingly important aspect of home design.
Once thought to be purely for entertainment, a gimmick at amusement parks or an element to excite videogame players, VR and AR technology has become so much more.
One of our clients Montgomery Homes have just launched their virtual display homes. See their video:
For more information about how you can utilise VR and AR technology visit our relevant landing pages- property developers, real estate agents, and builders.
