When the sales offices for Luma, a new 24-story condominium development in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, opened last summer, it stood out from similar spaces around town. Instead of a full-sized model of one of the units, this smaller sales center contained a kitchenette, bathroom mockup, and a sitting area with an Oculus Rift headset, virtual reality hardware made by the highly-touted, Facebook-owned tech company trying to bring the technology to the masses. Construction on the project had barely broken ground at that point—hard-hat tours are just beginning this week—but prospective buyers could still tour units in virtual reality, „walking“ around mock layouts and peering out windows to envision the enviable view they might be able to wake up to every morning (drones were used to capture accurate, floor-by-floor perspectives). For real estate agent Julie McEvoy, accustomed to the days of selling developments off blueprints, the ability to show clients a simulated layout was a valuable tool.
Selling the Future: Virtual Reality’s Potential Role in Real Estate
