By Jasmine Mira M. Dy and Aries F. Fallorina
Property search portal PropertyAsia.ph teams up with Japanese electronics company Ricoh and distributor CameraHaus Concepts Stores to spread the use of Ricoh Theta S, a Google-accredited spherical camera that enables 360-degree virtual tours of properties.
The partnership offers a discounted price of Ricoh Theta S camera to PropertyAsia.ph member brokers and agents who intend to use the technology to give clients a virtual tour of various properties for sale without going to the actual site.
PropertyAsia.ph managing director Joeri Stegeman says his company is the first in the Philippines to allow brokers and agents to upload 360-degree photos of houses and properties. “Once you have this camera, we can revolutionize together the whole market and make property shopping a true virtual reality experience,” he says.
Stegeman cites the benefits of the Ricoh Theta S for potential buyers, saying “360-degree photos leave no room to manipulate.” The photos’ availability online also allows buyers to be more efficient by checking more properties in little time.
“From a broker’s perspective, you don’t have to do 20 property trippings anymore when 18 people are not interested. You only do five trippings, where four people are interested,” Stegeman says.
“So it’s beneficial for your time as less time is spent on trippings and more time for getting more clients and earning more money.”
Dar Oro, marketing director of CameraHaus and Ricoh Theta, says the 360-degree technology was introduced to the market three years ago. The need for it started when it was used for the Google Street View.
“Before Theta S was born or introduced, not a lot of people were enjoying the 360 technology because no apps were developed. There were no tools like the VR [virtual reality] scopes like right now that the people could enjoy, and there’s really no market for it that people would see,” Oro says.
It was after Facebook and Youtube introduced the 360- degree videos that people started gaining interest in the new technology.
Industries have found several ways to use the product. Oro says these industries included advertising, broadcasting and automotive sectors which used the 360-degree technology for commercials, behind-the-scene teasers and new car model introduction, respectively.
“It’s a big leap. It’s a big thing for a company in the real estate industry to have this breakthrough and for them to use a 360 scale model for [brokers and agents] to have an easier access and for customers to easily view the properties,” Oro says.
“It’s a partnership that we are excited to have with Property Asia Philippines,” he says.
