realestateVR
The VR portal we dragged into boardrooms
This is how we took the Australian property experience into Oculus DK1 demos, HTC Vive show booths, and finally Google Daydream headsets.
realestateVR Daydream interface – price overlays, agent cards, and navigation cues.
User testing wall organised by experience type (Matterport, Gear VR, browser, photospheres).
DK1 hallway demos at 511 Church Street – the earliest "put agents in VR" moments.
Timeline
From hallway demos to Daydream launches
- 2014: DK1 prototypes shown to anyone who would sit still long enough. The goal was pure empathy—get agents talking about immersive tours.
- 2015: Zero Latency and Matterport mash-ups at AREC proved VR could move beyond gimmicks.
- 2016: realestateVR branded portal launched on Google Daydream with Cogent + DiUS help.
- 2017: Continuous user testing across Gear VR, browsers, and mobile viewers to decide where to double down.
What we learned
VR only lands when it feels familiar, informative, and lightweight. We mirrored the portal, exposed agent data, and gave people multiple hardware options so they could test without nausea.
Return to LabsUser research wall
Sticky notes → product decisions
Every square on that board translated to a backlog item—here are the big themes we carried forward.
Agents loved the immersion of Gear VR but wanted the reliability of simple browser viewers. We built both, letting them swap instantly.
Users hated being dropped into low-res spheres. That feedback led us to prioritise Matterport-quality scans and better loading states.
People wanted the same context they had on realestate.com.au – price, agent, and inspection info – so the VR portal mirrored the site UI.