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How virtual reality could boost real estate

The Flux Innovation Lounge speaks with Construction Business News ME about how creative industries could play a major role in selling real estate 

In October 2015, interactive technology group Engage Works and strategic brand design company StartJG joined forces to launch Dubai’s first hi-tech innovation lounge. The first Flux Innovation Lounge, debuted in March 2014 in London, aimed to be a space for ideas and exploring emerging technologies through hands-on experience. The lounge is a creative space designed to inspire leading creative minds – brands and agencies alike – through an evolved showcase of the world’s best emerging interactive technology.

The Middle Eastern Flux Innovation Lounge is located Arenco Tower in Dubai Media City. The lounge draws multiple technologies from virtual reality to advanced robotics under one roof.

Visitors can experience how interactive technology can enhance communication experiences for today’s biggest brands. It is built to drive insights and knowledge, to stimulate invention and to expose how the latest developments in hi-tech can affect all businesses as well as our working lives, today and in the future.

Steve Blyth, founder and CEO of Engage Works, says that the Flux Innovation Lounge received a phenomenal response in London and brands are increasingly recognising the power of technology as an enabler to better connect and engage with their employees and customers. “From robots to augmented reality, Flux Innovation Lounge showcases the most innovative solutions the industry can offer.”

CEO of StartJG Mike Curtis says that the technologies provided could be used by real estate developers during sales. “Through virtual reality, a potential customer can get a feel of the space in ways that go beyond static images.”

He explains: “As virtual reality becomes more widely available around the world, your target customer moves from national to regional or even international. All that needs to be done is put on the headset, and they can very accurately view what the future development or apartment looks like.

“There is still a big commitment towards model-making and visualisation which are basically static images. While we all know that video content is more compelling than static images.”

Curtis explains that this helps customers to customise what people want in their apartment, make decisions about environment designs and furniture.

According to Curtis these advancements are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of opportunities for the better communication and marketing of real estate and development. From a commercial point of view technology is an enabler of different way to market projects.

The lounge itself is set up to bring the latest technologies that are set up across the world into one market place so that people can come in and look at technologies that are available. Curtis says that this makes sure customers can use these technologies for their own purposes.

After London, the team picked Dubai because is it a very active marketplace that attracts some of the world’s best architects. He observes: “There is a lot of investment into real estate development. However, that being said there is quite a traditional way of selling going on here.

“The growing appetite for engaging brand experiences makes Dubai a natural home for Flux Innovation Lounge. Being heralded as the second most important global international shopping destination for the fourth consecutive year, makes Dubai a priority market in the field of innovative consumer interaction. Flux Innovation Lounge will help to showcase the potential for technology and demonstrate how brands can produce disruptive experiences, further cementing Dubai’s reputation for attracting shoppers and businesses from around the globe.”

Apart from virtual reality, the lounge also promotes hi-tech softwares that can contain and present magnanimous amount of data. Client director at Engage Works Richard Ward says that provided the content exist with the developer it could only two to three weeks to integrate in the software.

In London the market has responded particularly well especially in the real estate sector. Ward says: “British Land has been particularly impressed by this technology which is why we receive a lot of projects from them.”

The Flux Innovation Lounge plans to update its software every quarter and expand to various other metropolitan cities, with Hong Kong its next target.