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virtual

Virtual Home Tours Have Taken Over The Real Estate Industry

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In the real estate industry, virtual tours of prospective properties have made it easy for agents and their clients to view and discuss future transactions. Beyond the obvious health and safety benefits of this technology, virtual tours have made it easy for clients located in different states or parts of the country/world to continue their real estate dreams from the comfort of their own home.

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The Metaverse Looks To Be The Next Real Estate Market As Virtual Land Sells For $4.3 Million

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Are you a real estate investor, but hate the travel and tedious upkeep? The Metaverse might have solved all your woes. On Tuesday, Republic Realm purchased a virtual plot of land for $4.3 million, making it the largest metaverse real estate acquisition to date.

This deal comes just a week after a 500-square-foot plot of virtual land was purchased by the Metaverse Group — a real estate investment trust (REIT) — for a then-record $2.43 million. The site is planned to host fashion shows and e-commerce for a number of brands.

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Metaverse Group calls themselves “the world’s first virtual real estate company,” and intends to focus on buying, selling, and developing virtual pieces of real estate in the Metaverse. Republic Realm also appears to have a similar strategy.

The real estate properties being sold in this case are known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. NFTs can come in various forms, from images to trading cards.

The Metaverse was created by Facebook (now Meta) founder Mark Zuckerberg. Essentially, the Metaverse is a digital world filled with various realms that combines different types of technology — such as virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR), as well as artificial intelligence — to allow users to work, hang with friends, go to a concert or movie, travel, essentially anything you might desire.

According to digital currency investor Grayscale, goods and services within the Metaverse have the potential to earn $1 trillion annual revenue, and that revenue could grow to $400 billion by 2025 – a $220 increase from 2020. Meanwhile, experts believe the Metaverse economy will become fully functionable within a couple of years.

However, whether or not the real estate aspect continues to boom remains to be seen. As The Independent notes, Decentraland — which is made up of five districts — is one of several VR platforms that offers Metaverse property listings. It’s also called one of the “most advanced” in the blockchain universe. Among the other realms include The Sandbox, Somnium, Cryptovoxels, and Upland.

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A number of notable virtual real estate deals in the Metaverse have occurred throughout the year. Republic Realm purchased a 16-acre plot for nearly $1 million ($913,228.20 to be exact) in June, while Axie Infinity announced one of its properties sold for $2.3 million on Nov. 27.

Over the last seven days, 530 properties in Decentraland were sold, with a trading volume of $17.5 million and an average price of $32,500. Decentraland saw a boom in purchases following Facebook’s switch to Meta – average properties bought daily before Oct. 28 ranged from five to the rare 30. Following the announcement, Oct. 29 saw 129 properties purchased, and Decentraland has had a steady daily rate since.

Early birds to the industry were well-rewarded. In January, a plot of land could go for $2,000. Now, buyers are able to resell their properties for sums over $150,000. Of course, the market is far from foolproof. As Futurism explains, there’s no guarantees that landowners make any return on investments, or even open up their land to the public. Many of the realms and cities, such as Decentraland’s Genesis City, are still closed and have no release date, despite the cash being thrown around that would suggest otherwise.

Cybersecurity Real Estate

Real Estate Agencies Creating ‘Incident Response Plans’ To Prepare For Potential Cyberattacks

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The amount of personal information exchanged during a real estate transaction makes the industry especially vulnerable to these kinds of online attacks.

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Technology’s Major New Role In The Real Estate Industry 

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Technology has been implemented within the real estate industry for more than a decade now, however, with the Covid-19 pandemic using the multitude of tools and websites available on the internet has never been more crucial for the survival of this industry. When the pandemic inevitable begins to slow-down in 2021, industry leaders will have to make sure to take advantage of all the technology that they have available to them to help the markets in America grow again, and thus help the economy recover. 

Buyers are able to virtually access almost any property online now. This type of “virtual open house” technology has existed long before the pandemic, however, during an era where we’re meant to stay home indefinitely, these tools have never felt more relevant. 

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In the old school days of real estate, agencies would have thick binders full of printed stats, graphics and plans for each of their listings. Today it’s all condensed into a PDF to be easily shared via tablet for easy viewing. The conversion of paper to digital has been a massive cultural shift for the entire world and its many industries, however, for the real estate industry, this shift has made it easy for anyone to grow their business from anywhere. 

Clients and agents can easily contact each other from far distances, and in the middle of a pandemic where certain individuals may be looking for a complete change in scenery, that’s everything. Many agencies also opt for virtual interactive “house maps” that allow prospective buyers to virtually “walk around” a certain property thanks to 360 degree imaging. 

Retail and commercial real estate businesses tend to use other technology to advance their own operations. For example, many commercial real estate owners use apps that help track credit card data to understand how their clients shop or utilize their own companies website. For retailers looking at consumer behavior and data is crucial for its success. 

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One of the biggest advantages that technology offers real estate agencies, as well as any major industry in America, is the multitude of marketing opportunities. Social media makes it easier than ever for any agency, no matter how small, to get their name out there. Creating not only a website, but profiles on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or even Instagram, can help spread the word about certain property listings, agent recommendations and business opportunities for your clients; who can then easily share your profiles with their friends. 

For any industry technology is crucial for creating a solid marketing strategy, it also can provide an amazing learning opportunity for older individuals who have watched the real estate industry grow and develop within the past two decades. The older generation learning from the younger generation of real estate professionals, and vice versa, can create an amazing environment for learning, growth, and most importantly, success. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact the nation and its multitude of businesses, technology will also continue to impact the way in which we perform these business transactions. As the world begins to reopen and the virus eventually dissipates, these technologies will continue to grow and exist as well, so take advantage now!

Apple Store

What To Expect From Apple’s Virtual Event And How To Watch

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The day is finally here, after weeks of production delays brought on by the pandemic, Apple is projected to release their new line of iPhone’s along with a whole slew of other products today, October 13th, during a virtual event that will begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. 

In terms of the iPhone 12 and other predictions for what’s to be revealed today, it’s important to note that so far these are all just predictions, however, many of them are based on professional tech blogs and workers who have made correct predictions in the past about the iPhone’s we’ve already seen on the market. 

The iPhone 12 is likely to be the first major revamp of the phone’s physical design since 2017, when Apple revealed the iPhone X which no longer had a home button and used facial recognition technology to unlock the device. Analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a note to investors that this event will be a “once in a decade” moment for the tech giant. 

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“We believe iPhone 12 represents the most significant product cycle for Apple since iPhone 6 in 2014, and it will be another defining chapter in the Apple growth story looking ahead despite a softer consumer spending environment.”

The theme of this year’s event is “speed,” which could mean a variety of things, however, the biggest prediction based on the theme itself is that the next iPhone will have 5G capabilities, a faster chipset, faster display refresh rate, and more! Some individuals also believe that the new line of iPhones will have fingerprint unlocking capabilities through the power or volume buttons, for those who opt not to use the facial recognition feature.

Specifically, Apple is projected to launch the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The Mini is expected to have a 5.4 inch display and will be available in the standard 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB models. 

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The standard iPhone 12 will feature a 6.1 inch display and have the same storage capacity options as the mini. The iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max will have a 6.2 inch display and their storage configuration will likely begin at 128 GB based on past Pro Max iPhone models. The iPhone 12 series is set to begin pricing at $699 with the Mini and will likely go up to $1099 for the Pro models. 

The iPhone 12 series isn’t the only thing fans are looking forward to being announced this afternoon. It’s predicted that Apple will also be releasing over-ear wireless headphones called Airpods Studio, as well as a potential upgrade to HomePod speakers as well. 

Apple might also finally give consumers AirTags, which is something they’ve been teasing for quite some time now. Airtags would work as a GPS tracking service for things like your keys, phone, laptop, or anything else you find yourself consistently using. With the help of Bluetooth technology, one can just log onto any of their devices and track down whatever object they’re looking for that they’ve tagged. 

The Apple event is online-only today due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, this also means anyone can watch it. Normally, patrons would have to wait until after the event to see all the products launched, but now, customers can simply go onto Apple’s Website at 10 a.m. PT, which is 1 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. BST and 4 a.m. AEDT on Oct. 14.

Virtual Travel

Virtual Tourism Is The Future Of The Travel Industry, Research Suggests

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Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia recently released a new proposal for a virtual travel experience that they claim to be the future of the travel industry. In 2020 alone, the coronavirus pandemic has caused the tourism industry to dwindle greatly, along with many other industries in the world. During a global health crisis that requires everyone to stay home in order to keep everyone safe, travel lovers are trying to get creative, and this pair thinks they have the solution. 

The proposal was published in the scientific journal, Cell Patterns by Dr. Arni Srivasa Rao, director of the medical school’s Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modeling, and co-author Dr. Steven Krantz, a professor of mathematics and statistics at Washington University. The proposal claims that by using the billions of existing photos and videos online of travel hotspots throughout the world, and some advanced mathematical techniques, the current internet-based tourism experience could improve tenfold. 

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According to the proposal, the two have a technique that digitally measures the shapes, angles, and curvatures of certain objects in these images, as well as determines the distance between the camera and the object itself. Using drone footage, photos, and other videos compiled from online resources, the two believe they could make virtual travel experiences “more realistic for viewers that will help revitalize the tourism industry.”

The specific technology involved in these measurements is referred to as Live Streaming with Actual Proportionality of Objects, or LAPO for short. LAPO implements what’s known as “information geometry,” which essentially refers to measuring the actual dimensions of a given object in an image, and “conformal mapping,” which uses that information geometry to measure distance between objects and create more realistic imaging of people, places, and objects. 

“This is about having a new kind of technology that uses advanced mathematical techniques to turn digitized data into more realistic photos and videos with more of a feel for the location than you would get watching a movie or documentary.”

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Rao used the example of seeing the Statue of Liberty from a boat in the Hudson River versus watching a video of it, and how those two experiences greatly differ. However, with LAPO technology, Rao and his colleagues are able to measure and preserve “multiple angles and digitize that into video form so consumers can visualize it from multiple angles.” This will make people at home feel like they’re really there. 

The two main authors really wanted to emphasize their belief in this technology’s ability to help the tourism industry remain afloat/recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. They believe virtual tourism is the future based on the fact that overall it’s simply cheaper, safer because it can be done from home, easily accessible for all, and eliminates any risks that may arise from traveling to a new area of the world. 

“Virtual tourism also creates new employment opportunities for virtual tour guides, interpreters, drone pilots, videographers and photographers, as well as those building the new equipment for virtual tourism.”

People would pay for these experiences the same way they would pay a hotel or airline to take them somewhere, however, it will be monumentally cheaper based on the fact that you’re not actually going to the location itself. Rao and Krantz claim their next step is going to be to bring in some new investors and partners in the hospitality and tourism industry.