I have just boarded a 13hr flight from Sydney to Los Angeles, excited by the fact that I'm heading to San Francisco to attend Dreamforce 15' for the biggest technology conference on the globe. As I'm trying to pass time on the plane by watching movies, listening to music and reading a book (George Orwell, 1984) - my mind starts racing thinking about the future. This is a common occurrence for me, "live in the moment" I keep telling myself. I start thinking:
"I have a lot of time to kill on this trip, imagine if I had a virtual reality headset that would allow me to do anything I wanted whilst in mid air - like visit open home inspections, go car shopping, go camping, spy on my dog?" That would be cool and practical!"
How It Will Change The Real-Estate Industry
Meet Lucy Thomas, a mid 30's and newly married Accountant who is expecting her first child. Up until now husband David and her have been renting in the inner suburbs of St Kilda however are keen to buy a larger home now that they are starting a family. Work is getting busier, the days are getting shorter and energy levels aren't quite as high as they use to be now that she is 6 months pregnant.
Lucy gets home from a long day at work, makes a cup of tea and sits by the fire place ready to look at some new open planned apartments being built within a 10km radius of her current location. She puts on her full HD Virtual Reality headset and starts scrolling through the menu using a swiping down hand gesture. She selects the real estate app exactly the same way you select an app using your iPhone - difference is this is highly animated and has an in built Bose sound system to enhance the experience. The light sounds of John Mayer come on in the background as the headset is synced to her Apple music account and also connected to the family wifi.
The first thing Lucy sees is a helicopter view of Melbourne city. She has access to both a street view or standard map but can also filter her preferences for available homes and new developments. Lucy is seeing relevant information on previously sold houses, the average price of sale and also getting highlighted key pieces of data that are specifically targeted to her - for example dog parks, closest yoga centre, schools, cafes, hot spots and distance to work via car or public transport. The below picture is purely a mock up.
Lucy gets home from a long day at work, makes a cup of tea and sits by the fire place ready to look at some new open planned apartments being built within a 10km radius of her current location. She puts on her full HD Virtual Reality headset and starts scrolling through the menu using a swiping down hand gesture. She selects the real estate app exactly the same way you select an app using your iPhone - difference is this is highly animated and has an in built Bose sound system to enhance the experience. The light sounds of John Mayer come on in the background as the headset is synced to her Apple music account and also connected to the family wifi.
The first thing Lucy sees is a helicopter view of Melbourne city. She has access to both a street view or standard map but can also filter her preferences for available homes and new developments. Lucy is seeing relevant information on previously sold houses, the average price of sale and also getting highlighted key pieces of data that are specifically targeted to her - for example dog parks, closest yoga centre, schools, cafes, hot spots and distance to work via car or public transport. The below picture is purely a mock up.
Lucy zones in on East Malvern a beautiful green leafy area 10km from the CBD and finds a brand new development that sits comfortably within their price range, not too far from work and big enough to start a family in. She decides to take a virtual tour of the yet to be developed luxury apartments. The below picture is purely a mock up.
Now this is where the magic happens...
Standing out the front of the brand new development in East Malvern, Lucy gets her first glimpse of the building. The sun is shinning down and she can hear the sounds of birds chirping and cheerful families close by. The smell of freshly mowed grass can also be part of the amazing customer experience. Lucy is now guided through the lobby, up to the 3 bedroom luxury apartment that she showed interest in. As the door slowly opens she can hear her favourite Saturday morning song being played from the living room: "What a wonderful world" by Iz Kamakawiwoʻole.
Slowly she is taken through the apartment - living room to bedrooms. Everything along the way has been personalised for Lucy's world. Her Facebook account has been synced so all the photo frames in the house show pictures from her beautiful wedding day with David, to photos of her French Bulldog Oscar. Lucy can also interact with the virtual world by opening cupboard doors for insight into storage space. While guiding herself around the house Lucy decides to start customising certain aspects - like the apartments colour theme, finishings, decor and furniture making her feel like a conductor. The creativity and flexibility of such a tool puts the power in the customers hands and the data into the marketers hands.
Once Lucy is finished she takes a stand back and admires her work. She receives a tap on her shoulder from her David who has arrived home slightly early. She takes the headset off and passes it over to David, then whispers "I think I have just found our new home!
Slowly she is taken through the apartment - living room to bedrooms. Everything along the way has been personalised for Lucy's world. Her Facebook account has been synced so all the photo frames in the house show pictures from her beautiful wedding day with David, to photos of her French Bulldog Oscar. Lucy can also interact with the virtual world by opening cupboard doors for insight into storage space. While guiding herself around the house Lucy decides to start customising certain aspects - like the apartments colour theme, finishings, decor and furniture making her feel like a conductor. The creativity and flexibility of such a tool puts the power in the customers hands and the data into the marketers hands.
Once Lucy is finished she takes a stand back and admires her work. She receives a tap on her shoulder from her David who has arrived home slightly early. She takes the headset off and passes it over to David, then whispers "I think I have just found our new home!
As the internet of things advances, the very notion of a clear dividing line between reality and virtual reality becomes blurred, sometimes in creative ways!
The example above is how I envision one industry being disrupted. Everything from buying a car, booking a wedding venue to renting holiday accommodation can be enhanced through virtual reality. Nothing will ever take away from pure human to human interactions - but the idea of having the ability to do all the above from within your home makes me excited and nervous.