The Sotheby’s International Realty® brand has introduced its revolutionary augmented reality (AR) app – Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty℠.
Built with ARCore, Google’s augmented reality software platform, and powered by roOomy, the leading virtual staging technology platform, Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty transforms the homebuying and selling experience. Working closely with Google in the run up to ARCore’s release, Sotheby’s International Realty is the first real estate brand to launch and implement a virtual staging AR app.
According the Harvard Business Review’s A Manager’s Guide to Augmented Reality, research has shown that an AR experience allows consumers to form more accurate expectations, therefore increasing confidence in purchasing decisions and shortening the sales cycle.
Here are some of the ways the app will benefit homebuyers and sellers:
- For prospective homebuyers – Viewing a potential home in AR breaks down visualization barriers that often accompany the homebuying process, allowing prospective homebuyers the unique ability to envision the home in their personal taste and style. Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty offers the opportunity for buyers to see a home as their own, increasing confidence in purchasing decisions.
- For home sellers / Sotheby’s International Realty clients – Selling a home with a Sotheby’s International Realty sales associate means tapping into the power of AR to sell the home by helping prospective buyers overcome the visualization barriers of touring an empty home or one decorated in a style that differs from their personal taste.
Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty is available now for download in the Google Play Store. The app can run on 100 million Android devices worldwide. The Sotheby’s International Realty brand will launch Curate by Sotheby’s International Realty for iOS this spring through a continued partnership with roOomy.
App Features
- Visualization – Any property can be transformed through a curated selection of AR furnishings and décor sets. Listing-specific staging options will be available in the near future.
- Recollection – The app has screenshot capabilities, allowing viewers to capture and store the images of AR furniture sets placed within the visit.
- Shop – Virtual home furnishings can be clicked for more information about the product, including a link to exit the app and be directed to a retailer’s website. All furniture is shown to-scale and provides accurate room dimensions, ensuring furniture viewed in the app will be a fit, making purchasing and moving into a new home easier on new home buyers.
“The Sotheby’s International Realty brand has always been a leader when it comes to adapting new technologies to the real estate industry and understanding homebuying trends,” noted John Passerini, global vice president of interactive marketing, Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. “Almost a decade ago, we committed to only displaying high-resolution photography on our website; we then had the foresight to understand that video would become increasingly important to homebuyers and so we introduced high-definition videography to our website; and then came 3D and Virtual Reality Tours with Matterport. We recognized that augmented reality is the way in which people will shop in the future and when Google approached us to be an official launch partner for ARCore, we knew it was the right move.”
