The role of augmented reality in real estate can vary depending on available technology and the creativity of designers. Using augmented reality in real estate is one way in which realtors hope to help potential buyers identify new homes. Beyond finding houses, augmented reality can also be used to help potential buyers see their own lives in homes decorated by another person. With new advances in this technology, it may be possible to use augmented reality in other ways in the future.
People often use augmented reality on their phones, providing a mobile window through which they can receive information about the world around them. Realtors hope to use this window to facilitate housing searches, allowing potential buyers to find out information about houses around them on the go. This use of augmented reality in real estate works by overlaying information about available houses on images of those houses when the phone is pointed toward the dwelling. In some designs, buyers can also see photos of the insides of houses while looking at them outside from their phones.
The appeal of this use of augmented reality in real estate is that it allows buyers to browse houses by walking or driving by them. It also reduces the need for paper fliers outside of houses, which are often unavailable when buyers walk up to the homes. When users of these programs are able to see not only houses on the street where they are standing, but also the locations of other homes in the neighborhood, a buyer can be independent in his or her search for a new house.
There are other uses of augmented reality in real estate as well. These uses often relate to helping potential buyers see the home in different decoration schemes, some of which may be more appealing than the way the house is presented. Applications that can change the color of walls, for example, can show people how the home would look in a favorite color. Augmented reality can also conceivably add furniture to an empty space, which would allow people to view the home with many different interior design plans without placing any items in the house itself.
Uses of augmented reality in real estate depend on available technology and the creativity of designers. Someday, it may be possible to create an entirely virtual realtor who operates through augmented reality. Most of the uses of augmented reality in this field relate to increasing the amount of information available to potential buyers, which can help draw in clients who may not have seen the houses otherwise.