What are 3D Virtual Tours Used For?

The Industries Taking Advantage of Immersive Virtual Environments

The applications of virtual reality technology seem to broaden by the day.

The catalyst over the past 18 months was, of course, the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and the accelerated shift of digitalisation in the business world.

Even before March 2020, however, virtual tours were being utilised in surprising and innovative ways.

The pandemic propelled VR to utility across many different business functions – from marketing to staff training – and the versatile nature of this technology continues to be realised 18 months on.

In this blog post, we will discover how this technology is being utilised across different industries.

Property Marketing & Real Estate

Virtual tours in property marketing are arguably the most well-known application of this technology.

Once a property is captured in 3D, the ‘digital twin’ is accessible from any major device with an internet connection, enabling prospective buyers an entirely transparent and accurate representation of the property.

During the 2020 lockdowns, this gave a lifeline to real estate professionals who were unable to conduct in-person viewings due to the restrictions.

Now, it is solidifying itself as an integral part of the property vetting process, allowing prospects to virtually view several properties before deciding which one they wish to see in person.

This saves time for both agent and prospect and saves the costs of travelling to view properties which are unlikely to result in a purchase or a lease.

Hotels, Bars & Restaurants

3D virtual tours enable hospitality use digital twin marketing for their venue to give complete transparency and elevate their guest experience.

The ‘tag’ feature within the interface can also be utilised to communicate crucial health and safety information for guests and staff alike.

While a standard ‘Matterport’ tour of a hospitality venue acts as an invaluable marketing asset on its own, new platforms enable additional features to be incorporated, such as booking systems and personalised offers embedded within the tour interface.

This marketing asset suddenly transforms into a tool which unites marketing, guest experience, and direct bookings all under one roof.

Construction

The use of ‘digital twin’ technology has been well-rehearsed in construction. However, it has now become far more accessible.

With 3D virtual tour tech, multiple scans of the same site can be taken at different stages of the project to track milestones and enable remote site visits.

The 2D photos and 3D data from the digital twin ensures improved information sharing and collaboration between teams and contractors.

Once the 3D scan has been conducted, the 3D data captured as ‘point clouds’ can be integrated into CAD modelling and BIM software.

The data collected saves valuable time by removing the need to manually model from paper drafts.

Education & Training

Virtual reality makes learning content far more engaging than traditional teaching methods.

Statistics show that memory retention rate is drastically improved when students learn through a VR experience.

Whether it is virtual tours of heritage sites for virtual school trips or a ‘digital twin’ of a school to enable remote viewings for prospective students, we can expect to see virtual reality play an increasingly important role in education, especially as learning becomes more online based.

Educational uses are not just restricted to academia, however.

Employee training for companies across all number of industries has shown to be far more effective when optimised within a VR environment.

A ‘digital twin’ of a workplace makes for an ideal ‘spot the hazard’ test environment and allows for unrestricted access to dangerous or hard to reach areas.

What does the Future Hold for Virtual Tours in the UK?

The popularity of this technology and the number of applications is steadily rising.

As brands look to gain a competitive advantage particularly in marketing their properties or venues, VR tech stands as a hallmark of digitalisation in the business world.

While new applications are likely to spring up, the current use cases will undoubtedly be enhanced and expanded. For example, as the statistics on the effectiveness of VR training show only positive results, the potential in this area is seemingly limitless looking forward.

And who knows? Maybe a use case in a certain industry that we never saw coming!