EyeSpy360 Blog

Do you have excellent written and communication skills? A creative mind? Confidence to sell ideas? Good planning and organisational skills? A high level of knowledge on computer software? Then a career in marketing or design could be for you. Here at EyeSpy360™, we asked our Marketing Manager and Designer to run through a typical day. But to start off with, here's a bit of background on them.

I took the opportunity to interview the Chief Executive Officer of our company, to find out his perspective on what it takes to be at the forefront of the property technology industry during a time of major change. As the industry shifts, Andrew insists that one thing must stay the same and that is an exceptional level of customer service.

1) Write a script. Some people have the spiel and never feel the need to write a script, but if it is a new property, you’re not fully brushed up on its features, or you know you’ll make mistakes without a script, then this is your first tool for creating the perfect pre-recorded tour.

Here at EyeSpy360™, we've heard various reasons as to why estate agents don't think they need virtual tours of their properties. But they are innovative and important tools that really should be given some serious thought. So here are 12 answers we have heard agents say, as to why they think they don't need virtual tours, followed by our reasoning as to why they definitely do!

As some of you may know, our last blog post discussed the ways in which social media is beginning to surpass traditional property portals, such as Rightmove and Zoopla. In fact, some of our clients have even told us that they've sold houses using Facebook alone! This is happening much quicker than we were expecting.

However, Rightmove for example, are effectively a simple database. The way they generate profit is by sending leads to estate agents and thus creating an audience on their platform. Therefore, features such as virtual tours are not particularly fulfilling for them, as they do not comprehend the added visits that these virtual tours will bring to their clients’ properties. The method which Rightmove employ to build their audience is a reactive process, rather than a proactive one.

PropTech, as the name suggests, is an amalgamation of the words Property and Technology, and if you find yourself even slightly involved with the Property Industry and you haven’t yet come across this term, then I must say I'm surprised, as PropTech continues to establish itself as a very rapidly expanding industry.

A subject often debated in the EyeSpy360™ office is the difference in quality between the cameras which we stock and recommend, the RICOH THETAS. Our CTO is convinced that there is no difference between the SC and the S. Our COO believes that there is only a tiny difference between the S and the SC and not enough to warrant the difference in price, but he firmly believes that the V is better than both, and worth the price difference!

Virtual tours are an excellent feature in order to show an agent’s buyers around a property from the comfort of their own home. However, they are more than just a feature; they are actually a solution. So why are virtual tours such a revolutionary tool in helping estate agents to sell properties?

Firstly, let’s look at the issue of virtual graffiti. Graffiti created in augmented reality is only visible when parties are given access to it, largely via their smartphone. It may be created in a way that sends out an alert when a passer-by approaches, urging them to hold up their phone to see the work. Between small groups, this may not be a problem in itself, but where AR graffiti is available to the general public, it becomes a ‘public statement’ and thus raises questions that need to be answered.

If you’re just getting started with presenting live virtual property tours then you may be wondering how they differ from the in-person property viewings you’ve been hosting throughout your career. The short answer is that there is very little difference. There are just a few things to consider that you may not have had to think about before.

So, you’ve taken the leap and are all set to start conducting live virtual property viewings? Welcome! You are going to love it. You may, however, be a bit wary as to what you can expect from hosting a viewing in this way. That’s understandable. It is, after all, a very new way of doing things. And, of course, if you’re going to put your company’s resources into presenting yourself as a future-thinking company, engaging with innovative technology, you had best be sure you do it right. 

There is a debate afoot in the Real Estate industry. New 360-degree photography and video, as well as fully immersive virtual property tours, are changing the way that we show potential buyers around properties. This new technology has delighted many agents who are reaping the time and cost-saving benefits offered by VR. On the other hand, there are the traditionalists, who argue that you simply cannot beat the human interaction and true engagement with a property that you get from viewing it in person.

in which we asked real estate agents and other users of our platform a few questions to find out the state of play in the industry right now. Along with seeing how our users were finding our virtual tour platform, we also discovered some interesting information about agencies. One of the sections that surprised us most was that so many users had no idea how much their agency spends on property viewings. 

Here at EyeSpy360™, we are all about 360 virtual tours, as you probably know! We love the opportunities that 360-degree photography and video can offer for broadening our experiences of the world and making things easier for everyday life. So, whilst this is a little off-topic for us, we wanted to share with you a few of our favourite 360-degree videos on YouTube. Enjoy!

Substantial investment from further afield, including the resources and funds received from Japanese mobile gaming studio, Gumi, is fueling the fire burning hard across Europe. Gumi gave its assistance to EUVR, the non-profit organisation championing the maturation of virtual reality in Europe. 

The word “panorama” was originally coined in the late 18th century by English painter Robert Barker to describe a visual medium he had built, which enabled one of his paintings to be shown on a cylindrical surface and viewed from the inside. This innovative contraption allowed his contemporaries to observe the entire circle of the painting’s horizon in an essentially 360-degree format, and captured the original scene reliably.

As compact as their two previous Theta cameras, the THETA V is lightweight and sleek with two 12 megapixel CMOS sensors, capable of 5376 x 2688 images. These two sensors are also placed very closely together which allows the camera to produce really seamless 360-degree images.

As compact as their two previous Theta cameras, the THETA V is lightweight and sleek with two 12 megapixel CMOS sensors, capable of 5376 x 2688 images. These two sensors are also placed very closely together which allows the camera to produce really seamless 360-degree images.

Estimates suggest that estate agents currently spend around £650 million a year on property viewings alone. That is a huge wastage for the industry and could spell doom for some, particularly smaller agencies. Luckily, however, technological developments in the property sector (PropTech) are already helping alleviate some of this substantial cost.

We are well-aware of the ways in which virtual reality is taking the gaming world by storm. We are, perhaps, even more aware of the impact that early forays into augmented reality, in the form of Pokemon Go, have had on children and young people. So, it may seem a logical conclusion that what engages kids in their free time may also be the key to unlocking enthusiasm in the classroom.

In the past, marketing to these clients relied on flat photography and for those clients to visit the properties in person, or to send a representative to do so. Of course, there’s also the famous ‘Exhibition Road Trip’ around Middle and Far Eastern cities.

The shortlisted startups, including EyeSpy360™, will compete in the Startup Battlefield at the event, during which we will be presenting a short elevator pitch on stage in front of a jury. Also present will be an audience of our most distinguished peers in Real Estate, all of whom we are very much looking forward to seeing, or meeting again, whilst we are there.

Real estate agents are already well-aware of the difference that virtual tours of properties can make. People currently view between 10 and 15 properties in person before choosing the one they wish to proceed with, and 360 photography has made a substantial impact on reducing this number, saving time and money for all parties. 

Virtual reality property marketing will, before long, be a central part of how properties are marketed and sold. Many agents are already taking up the challenge and integrating the technology into their listings. Some are even going so far as to offer high-end virtual reality equipment in their offices and showhomes. However, we are not yet at the stage of total mass adoption of virtual reality devices. Whilst a virtual reality property marketing strategy may be the future for real estate agents, today it is all about 360° photography - a technology that opens the doors to virtual reality property marketing.

In Philadelphia in the United States, however, a new program named “Generations Beyond”, sponsored by the global aerospace-military corporation, Lockheed Martin, is showing elementary school children the possibilities that a career in STEM could offer. How? Through a decked out VR school bus that takes kids on a virtual tour to Mars. As Lockheed Martin’s Angela Ciummo explains:

In the past, crime scene photography and sketches were used to recreate representations of the scene to be used in Court. But as useful as these two-dimensional representations have been for decades, their accuracy for assessing an entire scene has been limited. With the use of 360 photography, however, complex 3D surfaces can be analysed in an immersive space that gives a thorough representation of the scene. 

Virtual tours have been hailed as a kind of Holy Grail for the disabled. For moments at a time, a disabled VR user can forget their disability and have experiences they may never have had the opportunity to do before. Virtual tours of faraway places, places that are difficult to travel to, can free the disabled user to experience these places as though they were actually there. However, virtual tours work at much closer range than this, and beyond entertainment, the experiences the technology offers can have very practical applications for disabled users.

The real estate agent’s task of taking a property from listing to sale (or let) is rife with time-wastage. Whether it’s showing people around properties that they clearly have no interest in, negotiating infuriating city traffic to reach one property after another for viewings, or any of the myriad niggling tasks in between, there is a chasm in efficiency. So, too, is the journey of the buyer or tenant, who currently views an average of between 12 and 15 properties before finding their next home. There really must be a better way to market property.

EyeSpy360™ are proud sponsors of the Property Portal Watch Conference BKK in Bangkok. We will be there for the entire duration, from the 7th – 10th May 2017, and are looking forward to coming home with some new friends and partners. If you’re in property and in Bangkok during the above dates and you want to see the future, get in touch.