In a world where instant gratification reigns supreme, homebuyers want to experience and envision their homes before they are built. A significant friction that hampers this need, as recognized by Urban District Realty, is the mastery of complex virtual reality (VR) technologies, which intimidate a majority of potential users. In response to this challenge, the company has secured a patent, US11769301B2, that promises to mitigate this issue by offering a simplified and intuitive VR experience focused on unbuilt home tours.
This gap in accessibility has compelled many prospective homebuyers to rely on architectural plans or pre-existing homes for illustration, often leading to a lack of personalized connection with their future investments. Intimidating VR technologies pose another bunch of issues, lessening the appeal of virtual home tours for technologically disinclined users.
Anticipating these crossroads, Urban District Realty's patent presents an adaptive solution. This patent outlines systems, methods, and computer program products that create and navigate virtual reality structures. With this, users only need to wear a VR headset; the technology will do the rest. It intends to share the burden of control across multiple users and offer an inclusive virtual space for those who wish to participate. What's more, users wanting more control over design have the option to choose furnishings from a catalog comprising real-life items. This offers a tangible connection to the virtually designed space and ensures the choices made virtually can be executed in reality.
From the real estate sales process to home staging and design, this innovation could potentially shift the way we visualize and interact with our future homes. Imagine comfortably reclining in your living room while virtually navigating the hallway of your not-yet-built beach house, adjusting the placement of the sofa in your downtown apartment still under construction, or even collaborating with your overseas partner for the playroom design in your upcoming suburban home.
Adding another layer of safety and convenience, the system, enabled with gesture controls, allows users to move around the virtual space without colliding with each other. The technology even visualizes users on opposite sides of a virtual wall using different representations like an outline or an arrow.
While this patent promises a new way of experiencing homes before they are built, it's important to note that this is a patent, and as such, there's no assurance that products or services utilizing this technology will hit the market any time soon. Nonetheless, this innovation, alongside Urban District Realty's VR Real Estate Touring System, signals a hopeful future where anyone, regardless of their technical know-how, could virtually step into their dream homes before they're even built. From the potential homebuyer to the construction professional, the company's patented technology could foster a more inclusive, intuitive, and immersive home buying process.