The Metaverse:
Real Estate Marketing
in the Third Dimension

In the wake of Arti­fi­cial Intel­li­gence, anoth­er tech­nol­o­gy is about to become a hype: the Meta­verse. Simply put, it is a ’walk-in’ version of the inter­net. This meta­pher also casts a light on its impact on the construc­tion and real estate busi­ness: build­ings, rooms, and each construc­tion detail can be expe­ri­enced in an extreme­ly real­is­tic way. We already took a first glimpse at the oppor­tu­ni­ties in an earli­er Valdivia Expert Tip . The Meta­verse in its entire­ty, now, is a tech­nol­o­gy that is just ideal for real estate marketing.

’3D Inter­net’ – The Key Terminology

Just like the inter­net itself, the Meta­verse is a proto­col for data trans­mis­sion, creat­ing a network of all connect­ed comput­ers. You can use it with your PC or smart­phone. Howev­er, in order to enjoy the full 3D expe­ri­ence, you will need to have AR or VR-compat­i­ble hardware:

• Augment­ed Real­i­ty (AR) liter­al­ly augments the real world through digi­tal images. AR glass­es, for instance, can display data about a build­ing that you are look­ing at. Or you can see if a certain inte­ri­or design element, that you would like to have, match­es with the real room.
• Virtu­al Real­i­ty (VR) allows its users to enter a virtu­al world. With the help of the right gear (VR glass­es, data gloves, etc) you can walk around a build­ing or compound even before they have been built.

In order to use the world of VR, you first choose an Avatar for person­al repre­sen­ta­tion. This way, you can move around freely and inter­act with other people’s avatars or with AI-controlled figures. It is a very real-life expe­ri­ence, includ­ing the option to purchase virtu­al prop­er­ty, protect­ed data objects, so-called NFTs (non-fungi­ble tokens). As early as in 2021, Face­book creat­ed a video with some first insights into the visu­al appear­ance and the appli­ca­tions of the Metaverse.

The Meta­verse: A Tangi­ble Experience

To date, there is only a rela­tive­ly low number of Meta­verse users. Yet, public appli­ca­tions, such as Sand­box and Decen­tra­land already exist, and inter­est in the Meta­verse is rising among enter­pris­es as well. Accord­ing to a survey of Munich-based strat­e­gy consul­tan­cy Nunatak, 50% of enter­pris­es are current­ly devel­op­ing projects to explore the possi­bil­i­ties of the Metaverse.

Howev­er, there is no need to rely on exist­ing plat­forms in order to take advan­tage of this new tech­nol­o­gy: one of the things that make the Meta­verse so attrac­tive for enter­pris­es is the fact that they can build their own appli­ca­tions. Nunatak gives a few exam­ples – dating back to early 2023: Adidas is test­ing new stores in the Meta­verse, BMW opti­mizes manu­fac­tur­ing process­es, and Deutsche Bahn uses VR for maintenance.

More than Just a 3‑D Display Window

The Meta­verse is much more than a plan­ning or market­ing tool. Job hunters can perform virtu­al prac­tice tests, glob­al staff can come togeth­er in one room for confer­enc­ing or prepare for a new job at anoth­er site. The Meta­verse will make you more attrac­tive not only as a suppli­er or provider, but also as an employer.

And so adopt­ing early is worth it. Your enter­prise can gath­er rele­vant insights with expe­ri­ences in the Meta­verse – a few examples:

• Effi­cient­ly using AR and VR technology
• Virtu­al repre­sen­ta­tion of your enter­prise, prop­er­ties and projects, includ­ing visu­al­i­sa­tion of alter­na­tive options in struc­tur­al engi­neer­ing or archi­tec­ture, and more
• Support with the work­ing environment
• Direct contact with added value for clients, staff, and job candidates

A Success­ful Start

With­out a doubt, the Meta­verse is full of fasci­nat­ing new oppor­tu­ni­ties, specif­i­cal­ly for construc­tion and real estate busi­ness­es, e.g. for present­ing their services, projects, etc. There is two things you should keep in mind when intro­duc­ing this new tech­nol­o­gy: It is high­ly recom­mend­ed you make sure that the way you use AR and VR match­es your over­all corpo­rate iden­ti­ty and does not come across as too play­ful. Addi­tion­al­ly, your budget should include funds for oper­a­tions and main­te­nance ensur­ing that your first steps in the Meta­verse do not come to a halt all too soon. In any case, it is worth trying: This new medi­um is ideal for our indus­try, and even with small­er appli­ca­tions: Now is the time to quick­ly earn a repu­ta­tion as an early adopter and high­ly inno­v­a­tive enterprise.