March 7, 2018 – Marina del Rey, CA – Leading Sotheby’s broker Andrew Ernemann and developer Aspen Starwood Properties have partnered with immersive software startup Outer Realm to create virtual reality tours of unbuilt properties in Aspen, Colorado. In their Aspen Property Experience showroom, they are able to transport prospective buyers into luxury homes before they even break ground.
The showroom utilizes the latest in high-quality virtual reality hardware, with both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets. Buyers wearing the VR goggles can explore an entire home as if it were already built. By using real-time visualization technology, Outer Realm can transport the viewer to any vantage point, rather than just
preset view locations, and viewers can also interact with the scene using a design palette to select alternate finishes for flooring, kitchen countertops or cabinets, and furniture fabrics. They can set various lighting conditions, or even enjoy a virtual glass of champagne. The immersion and interactions serve to help the buyer understand exactly how their future home is laid out, finished, and furnished, and equally important, the realistic feeling of standing inside the home creates an emotional connection to the property that cannot be created with still images on a screen. Because not all buyers can visit the showroom, Outer Realm also outputs 360web-based tours, 2D images and video flythroughs that can be hosted on a property website and viewed on desktop or mobile, like this unbuilt listing for 300 Draw Drive .
“Using Outer Realm’s technology, we can showcase homes with the finest furniture and finishes, at a level of quality that is required in selling sophisticated luxury properties. When combined with the VR interactivity these tours make for a very fun and engaging experience for our prospective buyers,” said Andrew Ernemann.
Andrew and Mark take a holistic and long-term view. They know that selling just one incremental property over the next 5 years more than justifies the cost of creating Virtual Reality tours for all of their unbuilt listings rather than just using 2D images. Showcasing homes virtually allows them to list properties earlier, sell faster, and decrease development risk. They also believe in the soft benefits of generating buzz, great client satisfaction, and operating as industry leaders rather than followers.
The Aspen Property Experience Showroom has generated enough interest in the region that other local brokers will now pay to rent the use of the space and technology platform to showcase their own listings. What was originally seen as a business cost to operate the showroom has transformed into a business opportunity. Outer Realm knows we’re headed to a future where all unbuilt properties are toured virtually. “We believe that much like computer renderings replaced watercolors over the last 15 years, Virtual Reality will replace static 2D images and video in the coming years. Forward thinkers like Andrew Ernemann and Mark Friedland will lead that transition and reap the rewards,” says David Gull, CEO of Outer Realm.
About Outer Realm:
Outer Realm, based in Marina Del Rey, CA, builds immersive software to help brokers and developers showcase unbuilt properties in highly realistic, first-person experiences (people really feel like they’re standing in the finished home or commercial space). Outer Realm’s mission is to lead the world’s transition from 2D Screens to immersive worlds and to help people share their vision of the future with others as realistic representations rather than abstractions open in to interpretation.
Contact:
David Gull
CEO, Outer Realm, LLC
david@outerrealmvr.com
607-237-5362
Sean Earley is the Executive Editor of AR/VR Magazine & co-founder of RobotSpaceship Podcast Network. He is the Director of New Biz Development and Publishing at KEMWEB, a musician, producer & consultant. He loves guitars, VR and coffee.
