Palmerston North real estate agency becomes early adoptor of virtual reality – Stuff.co.nz

CATHERINE HARRIS

Last updated18:15, March 17 2017

Watson Property principal Greg Watson takes some virtual reality goggles for a spin.

The days of open homes may be numberedin the Manawatu, thanks to a local real estate taking on virtual technology.

Watson Property in Palmerston North believes it is possibly the first agency in the country to use a certain type of virtual reality technology.

Principal Greg Watson said the firm had imported a Matterportcamera from the US so vendors could choose "VR"as part of their marketing campaign if they wished.

By using an Oculus viewer, if they hadone, or their smartphone and a set of cardboard goggles supplied by the company, people could feel like they were really insidethe property.

READ MORE: * Kiwi house hunters may soon swap open homes for virtual reality * Harnessing the power of Pokemon Go "It allows somebody viewing a rental property or a property for sale to put the phone into the goggles and experience actually standing inside the property," he said.

"The real advantage for people is they can get a really good feel forwhat it's like, rather than thesituationwhere theymight travel to a property."

Virtual reality had an edgeover videos and 360-deg photography on computers by giving people a cleareridea of the condition of the property, Watson said. They could look out the windows at the view, or get a sense of scale.

The user simply had to downloadan app, go to a link on their phoneand slideitinto the goggles, he said.

At $20 a pair, theywere cheap enough for vendors to send a limitednumber out to likelycustomers on the agency's database as well.

Watson said he expected other agencies to followtheir lead.

"As soon as you put those goggles on, it is an experience. It's not just looking at something on a screen."

-Stuff

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Palmerston North real estate agency becomes early adoptor of virtual reality - Stuff.co.nz