Virtual reality tools and headsets are gaining strength on the tech platforms. Google Glass and Facebook’s Oculus Rift are already becoming popular, especially in real estate. Microsoft, at a recent Windows 10 keynote speech, said their new “holographic platform” – HoloLens will be a game changer. Will these tools infiltrate our lives as much as Apple’s iPhone and iPad have?
Some think that the afroentioed tools could represent a turning point for commercial real estate as they change the way brokerage deals work. With VR tools a brokerage firm can walk clients through a virtual tour of properties while never leaving the client office. Developers, architects, brokers or contractors can show a client what space looks like or the vision for space merely by plugging in a headset. Whether a property is built or not, this tool could save countless hours of client’s time. Moreover, a developer can sell a “to be built” property before it even comes out of the ground by using this technology. No more site plans, or 3d renderings. Now a potential investor can “feel” the building by using VR tools. These tools offer a much more detailed experience for the client than any other virtual realty tour.
Oculus Roft, Google Glass and HoloLens will change the entire prospective tenant vetting of property experience. The way a tenant experiences life in a building or space will be transformed from the knowledge one gains only from space plans, and architects 3D videos” to an actual real life experience by using VR technology.
Those that embrace these technologies, whether representing landlords or tenants, will be able to provide a much more thorough client experience, and allow tenants to make reality decisions vs. perceived hopefully outcomes.
With the developments of these VR tools it is safe to say that the commercial real estate industry may be catching up a new technological world.
