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  • Benefits of Adding a Virtual Tour for Real Estate

    The benefits of using virtual tours to attract real estate buyers have multiplied over the years. Now, you can’t afford to run your real estate business without having virtual tours on your website. They’re convincing interactive tools that clients use to see exactly what they want in a home.

    REASON TO USE VIRTUAL TOURS IN YOUR REAL ESTATE LISTINGS

    There are many advantages to adding a virtual tour to your listing. These tools:

    • Are Interactive and Viewer-Friendly: Virtual tours allow viewers to explore a property independently. They enable your audience to enjoy a visit to each room they want to see. In each room, they can focus on the lighting, flooring or another aspect of interest to them.
    • Hold Attention for a Long Time: Unlike plain text or still images, virtual tours can keep the viewer glued to your website for up to an hour. As they explore each room, it’s easier for them to dream about buying and living in the house. With automated human voice technology used for creating narrations, the viewer is captivated by the virtual walkthrough.
    • Create a Strong Sense of Ownership: The longer a client spends looking through different sections of a property, the more they can imagine themselves owning it. Combined with other interactive tools like mortgage calculators, these tours can urge the client toward closing the deal.
    • Save Time and Effort: Instead of staging a time-consuming and strenuous open house event, a virtual tour remains permanently open for anyone who wants to visit. This saves you the time and resources you would otherwise spend scheduling an open house, keeping contacts and staying at the site while many who will never buy just come in to ask questions.

    WHY REAL ESTATE AGENTS SHOULD START USING VIRTUAL TOURS TO THEIR ADVANTAGE

    Virtual tours attract qualified prospects and increase conversion rates on high-value properties. If you’re still saying to yourself: “How are virtual tours useful for real estate agents like me?” here are the main reasons to add a virtual tour to a real estate listing:

    • To Capture Customers in Remote Locations: This technology is excellent for high net-worth customers who want to buy expensive property from a foreign country or remote location. Buyers can click on rooms, bathrooms, kitchens and patios, giving them a clear, 3D view of each part of the home.
    • To Allow for Better Interaction Online: Customers can make comments about almost any aspect of the home. For instance, a client can ask questions about countertops, materials used for flooring, the type of insulation in the basement and other areas. As an agent or broker, you’ll be able to provide feedback in real-time from the comfort of your office.
    • To Promote Both New Construction and Remodeled Homes: You can guide would-be buyers with a virtual tour to help you see exactly how the completed project is expected to look. This means buyers can have a walkthrough and leave comments before the construction starts or gets completed.

    WHY YOU SHOULD HIRE A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER FOR A REAL ESTATE VIRTUAL TOUR

    If you want to create eye-catching photos and virtual tours that will sell your listing quickly, you need to hire a pro. A reputable professional real estate photographer will:

    • Create wide-angle views that captivate buyers
    • Use special techniques to highlight the selling points of the property
    • Create special effects that’ll make the home look great in daylight and at night
    • Use professional editing techniques to ensure there are no distortions or imperfections
    • Save you time and money by producing superior quality images, while you focus on managing communication with your clients
    • Provide pictures that will attract referrals and bring in more high net-worth clients

    To enjoy all these benefits and much more, contact us at 3D Maine by calling 207-899-5767 now. We’re ready to provide answers to all your questions and complete a photo session for you at your convenience.

  • Reasons to include a Virtual Tour in your Google My Business listing

    Reasons to include a Virtual Tour in your Google My Business listing

    If you’re thinking about including content material for brand advertising and marketing and marketing, there are some sound reasons to consider a Google virtual tour.

    The virtual map of the world is developing faster than ever. The technology to simply go to places on earth now fits in our pockets and is loose from Google. How humans seek, find out, and engage on-line is becoming intertwined with digital truth generation. Here’s how it may paintings in your gain.

    First, allow’s a fast solution, for those that don’t understand – What is a Google Virtual Tour precisely?

    A Google digital tour is a simulation of a current region, typically composed of a series of snapshots by a Street View Trusted pro or corporation.

    In this situation the 360 photographs are produced, then delivered to your Google My Business list as an interconnected digital on foot tour. The new virtual tour is now seen together with your different place records, so searchers can get a higher feel of what it’s like to go to.

    Google offers all businesses, small and huge alike, a free area to exhibit themselves known as a Google My Business listing or a GMB for brief. Establishing a GMB is incredibly helpful, but what you do to optimize this listing is essential to whether or not you even seem when services or products you provide are searched. For extra, take a look at our blog on Google My Business Listing Success.

    Ok, now that everyone knows the what and where we will get to the 7 reasons your commercial enterprise wishes a Google Virtual Tour
    #1 – Increased high-quality content in your listing improves the interaction
    A well-optimized listing way one packed with content material past just the enterprise call and fundamental information. The greater first-rate expert content material and interplay the better your ranking and engagement outlook.

    On your GMB listing you’ve got several ways to add content like:

    – Your website – upload your hyperlink so human beings can get there in one click on

    – Posts – just like social media updates and gives

    – Photos – interior and outdoors + identification, at work or crew

    – Customer Reviews – you may respond to Google critiques including a layer of interplay and transparency.

    – Videos – sure, you can even upload a video now :)

    – 360 Photos – or a Street View Trusted Google Virtual Tour

    Let’s pretend for a second you have a restaurant and also you need to ensure your customers are able to discover you on Google.

    You might actually want a few splendid photos of your storefront, food and the internal of the dining vicinity surroundings. But if you had the 360 virtual tours as well, the attraction, interaction and time spent ought to all DOUBLE. People WILL spend time walking around your vicinity certainly versus simply skimming over nevertheless photos and information. The distinction is that it gives a real take a look at your commercial enterprise and well, definitely it’s just kinda amusing to do!

    As your possibilities excursion your restaurant business truely, the views are interpreted with the aid of google as high-quality natural interplay along with your listing. This helps with a higher ranking on Google. So, doubling-down on the kind of picture content you are allowed on Google should be a no-brainer.

    To the general public, the virtual world still packs a first-rate wow component. Any purchaser searching at your listing will without a doubt enjoy the revel in. Plus, your customers will recognise that you are up to date with the cutting-edge era and will probably be round to serve them for a while.

    #2 – Shows immediately what may be tough to explain
    So, your area has lovely furnishings, high-quality art and excellent wall remedies with plenty of heat area. How do you describe that right away without pronouncing a phrase? – With 360 pix of the route!

    The Google digital tour will permit your clients to right away enjoy the ecosystem and sense of your region with their own eyes. A trick that makes their mind experience as they’ve already been there.

    They can walk round to distinctive sections of the venue and fast decide to visit. Professionally produced excursions are achieved in this sort of the first-rate layout that you can zoom in and spot everything they need to get a clear concept of what a business is all about.

    #3 – Up-to-date Street View of your storefront allows customers to locate you easily after being picked on Google and Google Maps
    For example, we’ve visible a road view picture on an enterprise’s list that became taken through the Google Maps car before the constructing was even constructed. When a patron looked at it on Google Maps to get there, it became best a photo displaying an empty patch of land.

    This may be puzzling to a precious prospect looking to discover your commercial enterprise. Also, in case you are in a region wherein you took over a previous used area, probabilities are that the Google streetcar exceeded through when that enterprise became installation and not your organization. Showing their signage or maybe flaws that you could have constant or changed or completely renovated over.

    This is what the thumbnail looks as if on Google Maps app

    When you upload any outdoor 360 images, it can update the thumbnail photo of the maximum cutting-edge Google Street View tour taken with the aid of the Google Maps Car of that cope with.

    The Google Maps automobile might also handiest drive by way of once in keeping with a year or much less regularly in rural areas, so this can be remedied via getting an excursion.

    When your tour is captured, most expert Google digital tour manufacturers will start with a factor or of the storefront as the start of the excursion. If taken near sufficient to a Street Viewpoint, this image usually turns into the brand new thumbnail of the list on Google Maps. This helps your customers get an accurate examine your storefront while navigating to your area.

    #4 – New manner to draw and have interaction along with your clients
    Virtual truth can also come to be a tangible force in our day by day lives. More and more the virtual global is being advanced to assist us do all styles of things – journey, schooling, even clinical era.

    Google and Facebook are pouring billions of dollars into the improvement of hardware and applications to put together for the following era of user needs. The future holds many makes use of for virtual truth but one available right now’s as a device, in particular, to interact with clients.

    A Google virtual tour of your business will allow your clients to revel in your region. Most smartphones today will assist you to see virtual snap shots with out the use of special glasses or a virtual reality headset. Any customer with a cellphone can interact along with your space without difficulty. This gets them to engage with list in a way that wasn’t available before.

    #five – See a count of what number of views you get
    Another incredible feature for your Google My Business listing is the capacity to song how usually your photographs are clicked on and checked out.

    When you claim your Google My Business list, you get access in your GMB Dashboard. Here you can manipulate your listing and additionally see what number of perspectives you’ve gotten of your photographs. You’ll additionally see stats for how many impressions, clicks to website, calls or clicks for instructions.

    These are all great indicators of what number of people are enticing with your listing and taking motion.

    #6 – Your Google Virtual Tour may be utilized in different places
    A Google Virtual Tour of your enterprise may be embedded and shared in other locations out of doors Google as nicely.

    You can upload it for your website effortlessly similar to a YouTube video. Just copy and paste the embed code into a internet site block and it’ll appear in just about any context you’d like.

    Some companies like to apply unique elements of the excursion on exclusive pages. Like an events facility displaying off a non-public hall on a web page about non-public activities. Or an rental complex showing of the gym and pool on a page about the services.

    It also can be posted on social media that has 360 help, like Facebook. As we all know social media is a exquisite way to live in touch with people inquisitive about the products and offerings. Use 360 content as a way to get them into your keep truely after which bodily.

    Another tip if you have an electronic mail list, you can re-engage along with your past clients by way of sending a link for your new digital excursion.

    #7 – It lasts for all time- if you want
    Google will host it indefinitely and it will remain on Google till you delete it! The price of pictures and manufacturing is quite inexpensive and would be a one time rate to get processed and published to Google–then it lives there all the time. You can’t beat a deal like that once maximum virtual excursion websites have web hosting prices to preserve your website online.

    These are only a few ways to optimize your Google My Business listing with a view to get you ranked better on Google. These excursions can be important to getting visitors in your enterprise on line and are encouraged relatively by means of Google themselves.

    There are confined companies that do that carrier and that they need to be a Trusted Google Partner with a view to have access to publishing on your virtual tour to Google.

    With over 65% of all searches on the net occurring on Google, growing an optimized Google My Business listing complete with a Google digital excursion need to be pinnacle precedence for any enterprise proprietor.

  • Why Home Sellers – and Buyers – Love 3D Virtual Tours

    In real estate marketing, if you can find a marketing strategy that works well for everyone – agent, seller, and buyer – you have a winning solution. Most traditional visual marketing methods bring different pieces of value to each audience. For a long time, 2D photos have been the industry standard as they bring definitive value to agents, buyers, and sellers alike — and for good reason. Beautiful images of a home can drive interest and emotionally engage a potential home buyer. They can also impress a home seller who wants to know their homes will be marketed in the best light possible, which can win an agent a listing.

    As camera technology continues to advance – in terms of both DSLR cameras and those on your smartphone – hi-res real estate photography will continue to be a critical part of any real estate marketing campaign. But technological innovation never stops. Today, amazing real estate photos are only part of a successful equation for the buyer and seller. The future is in 3D virtual tours.

    For the buyer: More than half of home buyers start their search online. More and more of those individuals are looking for a home that is not located in their immediate area. Increasingly, these younger, digitally ‘native’ first-time buyers want to get a real sense of how a home really looks and feels beyond static photography. It’s not surprising to learn, then, that the two things that modern home buyers say they want most from a listing are large, high-quality photos AND 3D virtual home tours.1

    For real estate agents and sellers: In a recent survey of real estate agents, 80% say that their clients would prefer to spend less time staging their home. Almost as many (77%) say that after a staging and photography shoot have concluded, they spot an important feature of the home they missed during the session. With Matterport, agents and sellers can create an always-open house which is perfectly staged 100% of the time. This can help drive greater interest in a property and better qualify leads who come to subsequent open houses.

    Agents get 403% more leads from real estate listings with dynamic visual content.2

    Here’s the reality. Large, high-quality pictures are a basic requirement for any real estate marketing package. Dynamic, 3D visual tours, however, can be a huge differentiator which can set an agent apart from their competition. Moreover, they are proven to generate more leads and more qualified leads. Potential buyers are more primed because they have already virtually visited the home. And agents can focus more of their attention on interested, informed buyers than on trying to list properties. That’s why listing portals, like realtor.com, have committed tremendous resources to make 3D virtual tours more available to their end-user by adding a new filter for buyers.

    The numbers tell a success story across the entire customer journey:

    Virtual tours get clicked on 40% more than listings without virtual tours3

    Properties featured with virtual tours get 95% more phone inquiries4

    Properties featured with virtual tours receive 65% more email inquiries versus those without

    Virtual tours generate 49% more qualified leads5

    The reason for these successes is that 3D virtual tours engage buyers in a way words and photos can not. They offer ‘location intelligence’ and a visceral sense of a property that increases emotional engagement. And unlike an open house or home visit, with a 3D virtual home tour, the prospect can take their time – from wherever they may be located – to delve into any feature that would make a house or apartment feel like a home.

    For agents and sellers, the experience factor is vital for winning listings and building a business in a highly competitive marketplace. And it’s a way to show more details of a house quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively in a format that is modern, enjoyable, and memorable.

    Agents are as tasked to be proficient marketers as they are to be proficient salespeople. Leaders are investing in dynamic real estate marketing to delight sellers and immerse buyers in the experience of a home listing. 3D virtual tour technology can improve both skill sets making you more competitive in your marketplace, and more successful with your prospects.

    Matterport’s 3D and VR photography solutions bring listings to life. A Matterport 3D virtual tour adds amazing value. With one shoot, you get all the benefits of incredible photos and the power to immerse home buyers in the experience of a property so they can create both an emotional and intellectual connection with the property.

  • What a Google Street View Virtual Tour Can Mean for Your SEO

    What a Google Street View Virtual Tour Can Mean for Your SEO

    Considering using a virtual 3D tour to promote your company?

    Google Business View, Google Street, Street View | Trusted, and now Google Street View… if it’s Tuesday, Google must be changing the name of one of its marketing platforms. By any name, Google Street View’s virtual 3D tours may give your business a visibility boost like nothing else could.

    There’s the old cliché about a picture being worth a thousand words, and 360-degree photo tours may just be worth even more. That’s because when it comes to interior design, home remodeling, and other home services, sharing a virtual tour of your showroom could transform your business. Think about it: realtors have been offering virtual tours for years with huge success.

    Retail businesses can also benefit from sharing virtual 360 tours by showing off their shop space. Why wouldn’t you show off your best products to your potential customers? Even better if that 360 tour is tied into Google, right?

    Even companies with successful online marketing campaigns can enjoy a boost in business by posting virtual tours. There are lots of ways to do virtual tours, and many types of businesses are perfectly suited to them. And you may not have considered the potential SEO boost of adding a virtual tour to your online marketing tools. Here’s what a virtual tour 360 can mean for your SEO performance.

    It’s Google Street View on Steroids

    Google has many tools and products that are indispensable for savvy entrepreneurs. Most online marketing efforts revolve around optimizing with and for these tools in one way or another. From your website to your social media accounts, tying it all back to Google is a smart tactic. Google Street View is one of those vital marketing tools that can transform your company’s marketing.

    Google Street View offers browsers a 360-degree view of your retail space. In other words, they can see what is in your shop without even leaving their couch. Seeing your store for themselves can help them decide where to target their shopping time and money.

    What About the SEO Boost?

    Because Street View is a Google product, the virtual tour of your business can easily be added to your Google My Business account photos. This will increase your visibility on Google Maps, Search, and Google Plus.  And as you know, anything that gets Google to send more people your way is a good idea.

    Benefits of having a 360-degree virtual tour on Google Street View

    There are good reasons a broad range of businesses consider 360-degree virtual tours to be the latest and greatest marketing tool to come from Google. Just a few benefits you’ll enjoy when you hire a Google-Trusted Photographer, beyond the SEO perks:

    • Virtual tours help your prospective customers get to know, like, and trust you – quickly.
    • They’ll feel more comfortable when they visit in person because they’ll already know what to expect.
    • Your business will get an automatic boost in ranking on Google’s various platforms (in many markets, anyway)
    • That 360-degree virtual tour will work for your prospective customers, no matter what devices they use to research your business before calling or coming in.
    • Odds are good that your competitors aren’t using a virtual tour in their marketing… yet. You’ve got a head start and a competitive edge over everyone else, for now.

    Power Up Your Local Marketing with Google Street View

    Local marketing is where it’s at these days. Getting more people in your area to make a purchase with you is the ultimate goal. More visual forms of marketing have enjoyed a recent bump in popularity and usefulness for online marketers. Virtual tours combine Google’s reach with the visual component prospective customers love. That’s why adding a virtual 3D tours to your marketing tools is a smart move.

     

  • How Interior Design of Vacation Rentals is Adding an Extra Dimension

    How Interior Design of Vacation Rentals is Adding an Extra Dimension

    In a highly visual field, the use of 3D is giving interior designers the opportunity to streamline their process through a unique partnership of companies

    The ability for someone to visualize their vacation is instrumental choosing where it will take place.  As described in a recent article, Matterport 3D is enabling the visualization of furnishing vacation rentals for interior designers as their property owners offer an updated look to the potential clients who might fill them. The program, as part of a partnership between vacation rental company Vacasa and online home good retailer Wayfair, gives vacation homeowners direct access to designers from across the country.

    With Matterport, designers can do things like create floorplans and check measurements, which has “allowed us to be really digital and quick in the design and programming and planning phases,” said Kimberly White, Vacasa senior director of design services.

    View this gallerly of vacation spaces and navigate the immersive experience yourself

    Over the past year, the program has been in pilot mode which included around 60 homeowner projects and 160 multifamily projects. Those initial results showed an increased average maximum rental occupancy of 12%, with some participants seeing an increase in revenue of more than 20%.

    “The Matterport tours … we couldn’t scale without it, because designers in Portland can’t often do site visits” – Kimberly White, Vacasa senior director of design services

    This combination of companies, specialties and technology has allowed this first of its kind program to be executed at a scale that offers a key differentiator from other vacation rental platforms. Access to a host of filters coupled with a 3D space that’s accessible from anywhere makes the professional outfitting of these properties remotely possible.

    Capturing a complete, immersive and accurate view of a space is integral to the Matterport experience. This same type of experience is also important to travelers who aim to live like a local.

    In staying true to this mantra, Vacasa has made sourcing local artwork through this project of “extreme importance to the integrity of any design,” says White. In addition, the company also plans to hire designers from throughout the company’s top markets, helping to ensure designs are entrenched within the community where they exist.

  • 14 Ways to Make Your Virtual Tour Amazing

    14 Ways to Make Your Virtual Tour Amazing

    Technology has transformed the decidedly old-school world of real estate, but few people in the real estate business use technology like virtual tours to their full advantage. Instead, they commit the same mistakes time and time again that mar the experience for potential home buyers. In the process, listing agents lose countless potential inquiries and offers on some of their most important blue-chip properties.

    To fix these problems, home sellers and their agents have to get the right perspective on virtual tours. Then, they have to follow through with best practices that make the virtual tour not only more impressive but also a more pivotal part of the home buying experience. That second part is actually even more important. Things like bad lighting can take away from a virtual tour’s impact, but if someone can’t access the tour without waiting five minutes, they won’t be interested at all.

    If you are a real estate agent or home seller looking to make the most out of their home listing’s virtual tour, we’re here to clear the air and get you on the right path. To improve your chances at getting more buyers interested through virtual tours and getting bigger offers, consider some of the following major points below.

    Very Few Virtual Tours Actually Fit the Needs of the Buyer Market

    A “virtual home tour” can be a vague descriptor for many different things.

    Many call video walkthroughs of homes “virtual tours,” for instance. While a great listing video can complement photos and really drive interest, it is definitely not the same thing as a virtual tour. A proper virtual tour is interactive, allowing the prospective buyer to view the home at their own pace and according to what draws their particular interest. Since a video railroads them down a particular path and only highlights select images of the property, it does not suffice.

    Other people describe a navigable 3D model of a home as a virtual tour. In the real estate industry, 3D approximations work far better for properties not built yet. By taking a real home and changing it into a 3D video-game style simulation, you compromise the actual sights and experiences of walking through the home.

    Some people have the nerve to even describe slide shows as a “virtual tour” since people are walked through photos in a natural progression. Since these still images do nothing to represent a 3D space, they do not satisfy the needs of someone looking for a true, interactive virtual tour.

    Qualities Needed for a Virtual Tour to Be Real and Effective

    So what would we call a “real” virtual tour? Here are a few criteria we think a virtual home tour should satisfy, at a minimum:

    • 3D exploration of the home space under the full control of the viewer
    • Uses actual footage of the home, not a digital recreation
    • Options to explore any room at any time, backtrack, or linger at their discretion
    • Easily accessible to the layperson through a web browser or mobile device
    • Abides by a high standard of quality, including both technical aspects like load speed and aesthetic aspects like clear lighting or great image resolution
    • Compatible with common smartphone models that provide millions with their primary point of internet access
    • Intuitive to control with minimal frustration or friction
    • Positioned in a way to complement the home’s natural features as well as other real estate marketing collateral
    • Duplicates the experience of visiting a home in person

    3DMaine is one of the few firms in the world out there right now hitting all of these bullet points at once. Our virtual home tours use 360° photos stationed at strategic points throughout the home. This format allows effortless control as people try to get a sense of what it’s like to stand in the home, even if they’re thousands of miles away. The photos also load well on common Android and iPhone devices, allowing people to switch between 2D photos and 3D tours at the click of the button.

    Each isolated 360° view is stitched together to give the user the chance to look at every unique or interesting viewpoint they would want when walking through the home. They can click within each viewpoint to move to another one. They also have the option to choose a room or level from a drop-down menu. These 30 to 40 or more 360° views stitched together result in an intimate and immersive view of the home that accurately depicts a real-life walkthrough.

    When making home tours, we ensure that we follow many guiding principles that improve our results and do justice to the gorgeous homes we help sell.

    You can put the following 14 best practices into play when making or commissioning your own virtual tours to get maximum results and increased interest for your listings.

    1. Hit the Right Happy Medium With Home Staging

    An empty home is a bit too blank of a canvas. People want to imagine how they could live in or use a home’s various spaces, and empty rooms create optical illusions that play tricks with our eyes. We need familiar furniture and objects to give a sense of scale.

    On the other hand, cluttered homes or overdone staging takes the attention away from the space and towards the objects themselves.

    Listing agents must, therefore, strike a “Goldilocks” balance when staging by placing objects that provide familiar forms and functions while accentuating the features of a home, not drawing attention away from them.

    One of the most important ways to do this is to show the purpose of non-standard rooms through clever staging.

    2. Have Consistent, Bright Lighting Throughout the Home

    Lighting can dramatically change our impression of something’s size, shape, and overall feel. This fascinating video shows just how much of an impact changes to directional light, warmth and overall brightness can have on a subject.

    When giving a virtual tour, there are two dangers with lighting. Firstly, dim or overly “moody” lighting can make a space look smaller or less inviting. Second, inconsistencies in lighting from room to room can create a jarring experience that’s far from immersive.

    In response, we send out a skilled lighting crew to accompany our 360° photographers. We ensure that all light levels are consistent throughout every shot and that all areas are well-lit to make a home feel spacious and inviting. We also pick optimal times of the day for shooting based on the home’s cardinal orientation relative to the sun’s position.

    By combining beautiful daylight with subtle but high contrast light, we give an accurate view of the space that reads well in every single image.

    3. Make the Tour Self Guided

    Anyone taking the virtual tour should have full control over each view. They should have the ability to move around between rooms at will and control their viewing angle within each position. For this reason, linear tours like videos do not qualify us as a true virtual tour.

    Giving people control not only improves their experience, but it also encourages them to dwell within the virtual tour longer. Longer dwell times generate higher levels of buyer interest while increasing the memorability of your listing compared to others.

    4. Choose Viewpoints That Reflect a Natural, Human Perspective,

    We are very picky about the 360° shooting locations we choose. Every position reflects a natural stopping point that a person would have when taking an in-person tour of a home. This approach differs from, say, always positioned in the exact center of a room.

    The effect is that the “virtual” tour really does duplicate the in-person experience. People viewing homes tend to linger when standing on landings overlooking other floors or standing near windows offering interesting outdoor views.

    Keeping this in mind, we will choose shooting locations in hallways or at different corners of the room, letting people have options as they feel out space and decide if it’s right for their personal needs and aesthetic preferences.

    5. Let Each View Stand on Its Own

    Every position chosen for 360° shooting has some connection to other spaces within the home. In other words, you feel like you are learning about not just the space you’re “standing” in but how each space in the home flows into the next.

    That may sound obvious, but the alternative is to shoot in places like a secluded corner of a room. People may become disoriented if all they see are walls. Similarly, we try to select views where outdoor visibility is high, demonstrating how connected to nature and the outside world property is.

    6. Isolate Unique Niches and Features Within the Home

    We’ve already touched on this a few times, but we’re going, to put it bluntly: don’t overlook opportunities to capture unique features of a home during a virtual tour. Some spaces don’t seem terribly important to the function of a home, but they do help reveal its personality.

    Going back to that gorgeous condo in Portland, you’ll notice that viewpoint #10 is tucked into a corner of the living room. Although this shot obscures much of the living room space, it does duplicate what it feels like to stand next to the built-in shelves and stare out the elegant window onto the peaceful scene of the back patio.

    Again, little touches like these help people feel like they really “know” a home and create stronger memories for a listing.

    7. Capture Outdoor Areas to Emphasize Curb Appeal and Liveability

    Some virtual tours miss the opportunity to highlight the home’s outdoor areas. A tour isn’t a true tour unless it starts with a view from the street! That way, people can know what it feels like for guests arriving at their home. For the types of properties typically showcased by virtual tours, making a statement is as important as functionality.

    Taking a look at other outdoor areas of a home makes it feel for versatile.

    8. Double, Triple Check for Continuity Errors

    As a final tip for shooting virtual tours, do everything in your power to prevent changes to the staged objects or movement near the cameras while they capture the space. Movement shows up as an ugly blur in all panoramic photo shots, especially 360° ones.

    Shooting can be difficult when trying to capture things outside in high winds or when animals are about, so you may need to schedule reshoots if outdoor views are marred by these aspects.

    9. Reference the Virtual Tour in Collateral Materials

    Moving away from shooting tips, ensure that the virtual tour is showcased within your home listings. Reference it repeatedly to encourage views, and make sure that the viewer knows they can use their smartphone and a device like a Google Cardboard or Daydream to explore from a true first-person perspective.

    You can also reference the virtual tour in assets like room descriptions or photos. For instance, you can say, “if you take a look at the virtual tour at position X, you will notice…”

    Having the ability to switch instantly between 2D and 3D views like 3DMaine does further facilitates and enhances the synergy within listing assets.

    10. Optimize for Mobile 360° Video and Common Smartphone Accessories

    Speaking of mobile viewing, ensure that your video is compatible and loads quickly on a variety of different devices. Include both standard phones like the iPhone 7 and Samsung Galaxy S8 as well as larger feature phones, like the iPhone X and the Pixel XL.

    These phones can accommodate a “VR” mode using devices like the Google Daydream, Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, and others. Test with these devices, and strongly encourage those viewing listings to try them out for the best experience possible.

    11. Reduce Load Times, Latency and Crashing to Almost Zero

    It’s nearly 2018, and people have zero patience for technology that doesn’t work. Optimize your files so that they can load quickly yet have great resolution. Work with your web hosting company to ensure that your virtual tours load quickly and can be navigated without errors or hitches.

    12. Let Other Listing Assets Like Photos and Floor Plans Complement the Virtual Tour

    If your 2D photos and other assets can work in concert with your virtual tour, all the better. For instance, 3DMaine’s technology lets you switch from the 3D view to see multiple professional 2D photos. Each works together to give the viewer a more accurate and immersive idea of the property.

    Providing a floor plan of the home can similarly help the buyer or agent connect their walkthrough experience to the technical dimensions and exact layout of the building.

    13. Back-Up Your Virtual Assets With Digital Marketing Campaigns

    The way to get the most ROI out of your virtual tours is to promote the living daylights out of them. Share the tour on Facebook, and include a mention of it to every interested lead. You

    can even create ad campaigns on search engines or websites retargeting those actively looking at home listings in your area. “Take a virtual tour of this gorgeous property at ___ address” can drive clicks and interest to your listing in effective ways.

    14. Survey Home Owners and Other Agents to Track What Worked and What Didn’t

    If you can get an extra moment of time from your clients and those they sell to, you can gain tremendously valuable data that allows you to make incremental improvements to your approach over time.

    For instance, asking the following questions to someone who ultimately bought the home can tell you a lot about how to improve performance:

    • Did you view the virtual home tour provided on the listing?
    • How many times did you view it?
    • What type of device did you view the tour on?
    • If using a mobile device, what was the brand name and model?
    • What was your favorite or most memorable room/view on the tour?
    • Etc

    You can also track analytics based on clickthroughs from your website or other campaigns you ran. By looking to data, you can draw conclusions and notice patterns that make your creation and promotion of virtual tours more effective than ever before.

  • Realtor.com® Announces Matterport 3D Virtual Tours On For-Sale and For-Rent Home Listings

    New Feature Allows Realtor.com® iOS Mobile App Users to View Homes from Wherever, Whenever

    “Seeing a home is one of the most critical, but time-consuming elements of the home shopping journey,” said Ryan O’Hara, CEO of realtor.com®. “By leveraging Matterport’s 3D technology, we are giving home buyers the ability to explore properties they are interested in with virtual tours prior to ever setting foot inside a home.”

    Real estate professionals can leverage Matterport 3D tours to differentiate their listings and create more visibility among consumers given the demand for this type of experience. According to recent research from realtor.com®, consumers rank 3D virtual home tours as the second most desired feature in the home search experience, behind large, high quality photos.

    “The combination of realtor.com®’s inventory with Matterport’s immersive user experience gives shoppers the opportunity to visit a tremendous volume of rentals and for-sale properties, from one location, and get the full experience of being inside. It is the most efficient way to search for a new home,” said Bill Brown, CEO of Matterport. “We are excited to see companies like realtor.com® paving the way as tech forward leaders in the real estate industry.”

    Currently, thousands of for-sale and for-rent listings on realtor.com® have Matterport 3D tours with volume continuing to increase as real estate professionals increasingly adopt the technology. Realtor.com® is the first company to be formally connected to Matterport’s syndicated direct feed, which expedites, simplifies and streamlines the process of including 3D tours on a listing on realtor.com®. Properties on realtor.com® that offer Matterport 3D virtual tours have a hexagon-shaped icon displayed on the property image on the search results page, or on the first property image in the photo carousel on the listing detail page.

    Matterport’s 3D platform, cloud services and photo scanning technology create the floor plans and virtual tours of homes available on the realtor.com iOS mobile app. Realtor.com’s direct relationship with Matterport enables the company to provide consumers with access to more 3D tour models in real-time.

    To view a sample of the Matterport 3D tours on the realtor.com® iOS mobile app, click on the following embedded links on an iOS device:

     

    For additional Matterport 3D tours and realtor.com®’s complete inventory of for-sale and for-rent listings, download the realtor.com® iOS real estate app on the App Store. Matterport 3D tours are scheduled to be available on the realtor.com® Android real estate app and on realtor.com®.

     

  • Open for Virtual business: Riding the 3D wave @ Blue Planet Surf Shop

    Open for Virtual business: Riding the 3D wave @ Blue Planet Surf Shop

    Take a short five-minute drive from Ala Moana Beach and you can find yourself at Blue Planet Surf; yet for those who aren’t on the island of O’ahu, all it actually takes is a single click of the mouse. The company’s name was inspired by the view of water’s vast coverage of the earth’s surface; and, in that same light, Blue Planet is offering a comprehensive inside view of their shop, generating virtual business by way of 3D reality capture.

    “I wouldn’t say it’s ‘hands-on’ but it’s about as close as you can get without actually being there” – Robert Stehlik, Owner, Blue Planet Surf

     

    Since 1993, in what began as a business school project at the University of Hawai’i by founder Robert Stehlik, the shop has prided itself on creating an authentic Hawai’i surfer’s experience for customers from the heart of downtown Honolulu. It’s an experience that now extends to its audience from anywhere, at any time and on any device after one day in July, when Stehlik was paid a visit by Jordan Shamir.

    “[Jordan] walked into the shop, said he does 3D tours and showed us a link. The technology was just amazing,” said Stehlik.

    Shamir runs a company called 3deyehawaii.com that specializes in immersive 3D experiences designed for businesses of all shapes and sizes. As it turns out, it wasn’t the Blue Planet crew’s first exposure to immersive tour technology either. “We had a tour, but you could just jump from one spot to the next,” said Stehlik. “It just wasn’t that impressive added Kevin Fung, the operations manager at Blue Planet.

    A uniquely fluid and immersive experience was the result and in the short time since it’s been live, it’s also translated into increased engagement for their business. In just over a month’s time, Blue Planet’s 3D tour has generated 658 impressions and 554 visits, according to Shamir. “I wouldn’t say it’s ‘hands-on’ but it’s about as close as you can get without actually being there,” said Stehlik.

    While the surf shop has enjoyed the increased organic traffic to their website, it didn’t all come out of nowhere. With the ability to add “Mattertags,” which includes other media at different points of your choosing inside their virtual business experience, the Blue Planet team got creative. “We had the idea of doing a treasure hunt and it’s been surprising to see how many people have done it,” said Stehlik.

    There are a number of hidden items throughout the store and finding them all will earn you a free t-shirt or hat. In the short time since it’s been running about half of the prizes have been claimed, for those interested in trying their hand.

    The benefits of posting additional information in the form of “Mattertags” right at the fingertips and cursors of customers online didn’t end there. “When I offered what I could do with Mattertags, Robert took full advantage of it so people could look at all that additional content,” said Shamir.

    As the user navigates the store, those “Mattertags” are found, strategically placed around different products. Hover over the icon and more information will appear along with a link that goes directly to the product page on the site. From there the customer can make their purchase or continue browsing the shop on their browser as if they were there.

    “It just gives us credibility that were a real business and people can see all the products on display just as-is in the store,” said Stehlik. “Our customers now have the chance to browse [from anywhere] and potentially see something for next time that they didn’t know was there before.”

    Blue Planet Surf is a complete shop that designed to create surf equipment for surfers, by surfers. As self-proclaimed “shepherds” of the playground that is the ocean, their herd’s access to the shop extends to ever corner of this blue planet. It’s an access virtual business for locations of all shapes and sizes the immersive, online client experience.

  • Matterport Disrupts Insurance Claims & Restoration with Artificial Intelligence Powered Reality Capture

    Matterport Disrupts Insurance Claims & Restoration with Artificial Intelligence Powered Reality Capture

    Reality Capture allows us to agree on what is real and what isn’t

    Reality Capture has been around, arguably since the first camera. Some might say since the invention of the papyrus in ancient Egypt. In more recent years, with every new sensor – be it thermal, hyperspectral, time of flight laser – new opportunities are presented for capturing our world in new ways. This could mean capturing data we never before had access to – like satellites showing us places we never knew existed. It could also mean capturing data at scale and efficiency where only manual methods previously existed – like drones using NDVI sensors to tell us within minutes the water levels of entire acres. Often, what new leaps in reality capture mean – going back to the first camera – is allowing us to agree with one another on what ‘reality’ actually was at certain point in time.

    In the property insurance world agreeing on what reality actually was at a certain point in time is mission critical for all sides involved in a claim. If a policy holder and carrier can’t agree on the value of the contents – we have a problem. If a contractor and an adjuster can’t agree on the extent of damage to a roof justifying a replacement – we have a problem. And problems in the claims world, an already contentious and tension filled environment, mean heartache, frustration and often lawsuits. Luckily, tools and best practices like cameras, agreed upon pricing for work and materials captured in Xactimate, thermal imagers and more give the different stakeholders operating in this space a snapshot of reality everyone can agree upon. These tools reduce disputes and improve efficiency for each player individually and the system as a whole.

     

    “Matterport has the ability to completely transform the interior claims space in the same way that thermal scanners, drones and light winged aircrafts have done in the past decade.”

     

    Agreement on reality means less disputes – a win-win

    But problems still exist. The fear adjusters have of contractor fraud – replacing instead of repairing, using more dehumidifiers than was necessary for the extent of damage, inflating the size of rooms in their sketches – is founded in unfortunate experiences. Similarly contractors fearing they’ll do the work needed at a high level of craftsmanship only to be low-balled in the payout when the adjuster claims there were not enough pictures showing the loss or that they believe the sketch is too large is also not just paranoia. Restoration contractors often have a similar fear of policy holders claiming they are responsible for damage to contents during pack-out when they did no such thing.

     

    Matterport has the ability to completely transform the interior claims space in the same way that thermal scanners (like FLIR), drones and light winged aircrafts (like the ones operated by EagleView) have done in the past decade. True3D™ Reality Capture offers comprehensive, exhaustive and detailed loss documentation – both visual and dimensional. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a Matterport 3D scan is worth a thousand pictures.

    In Matterport, every scan point is time-stamped, there is no ability to alter photos, and dimensions are accurate within 1%.

    Similarly to moisture readings and a roof report created by EagleView– it is an unbiased source of truth to reality at a certain point in time. Everyone – policyholder, adjuster and contractor – can all agree that the HDR photography, interactive 3D walkthroughs, and digital measurements displayed in a Matterport 3D scan are indisputable. In Matterport, every scan point is time-stamped, there is no ability to alter photos, and dimensions are accurate within 1%. Accidental omissions are rare and obvious when they exist based on a patented capture application that self registers as it progresses.

    matterport floor plan insurance

    Matterport can produce these floor plans within hours of the scan being completed and for only $14.99.

    Less time driving, photographing & measuring = efficient adjusters & estimators

    Matterport also presents great efficiency gains for the industry. Mitigation contractors can forgo the hundreds and sometimes thousands of photos they were taking of a loss (while still angry with field personnel for “not enough pictures!”). Estimators can forgo the tedious efforts of tape measuring and paper sketching as Matterport can automatically create assets that that can be imported into Xactimate. Many times – estimators can avoid a drive to the site altogether as the damage can be assessed remotely using the Matterport 3D scan.

    Estimators can forgo the tedious efforts of tape measuring and paper sketching as Matterport can automatically create assets that that can be imported into Xactimate.

    Insurance adjusters have a lot to gain as well, as a scan taken in the field at first notice of loss can allow them to release the claim for mitigation work to begin faster and they know which type of adjuster needs to go out to the field depending on the type and extent of damage. In more and more cases, based on the fact that Matterport represents an unbiased source of truth, they can save the trip to the field altogether and desk adjust the claim, knowing that the details from the 3D scan delivered are accurate and that every line item can be justified with the Matterport visuals.

    Finally, policyholders are great benefactors of the efficiency gains as well, as the expedited work ultimately means getting their lives back in order faster and with less heartache.

    A proven solution that is fast, easy to use and affordable

    In the past 6 months, Matterport has seen hundreds of contractors arm their field operators with Matterport cameras (no training needed), improve their workflows, decrease their disputes with adjusters and policyholders, and increase their usage from large loss claims to practically every claim they handle. We’ve seen adjusters embrace the medium – many times opting to work with restoration contractors when they utilized the system. Packout companies, contents restoration firms, estimators, consultants, forensic engineers – everyone with their hand in the claim has found the Matterport system to be a powerful and cost-efficient form of data collection, communication and trust-building.

    3D scanning has existed for over 30 years, but never has it been this affordable or accessible. Matterport has already surpassed one million captured spaces, with over 15,000 cameras deployed worldwide and deployment in every US city and over 90 countries.

    Matterport has the potential to completely transform the insurance claims/restoration space – not only because its sensors collect new type of data, but also and perhaps more importantly because the price point, ease of use, and speed has made it possible to deliver reality capture at extremely high volume (and high return). 3D scanning has existed for over 30 years, but never has it been this affordable or accessible. Matterport has already surpassed one million captured spaces, with over 15,000 cameras deployed worldwide and deployment in every US city and over 90 countries. Just as it is revolutionizing the way homebuyers search for homes, vacationers search for hotels or short term rentals, architects renovate and contractors track progress – it will revolutionize the way claims are managed.