Augmented reality (AR) has become a popular real estate tool in recent years. Through AR applications, potential buyers and sellers can use their smartphones to see virtual property overlays on top of their physical surroundings. This gives them an interactive and informative way to explore property information using just the camera on their device.
AR is particularly useful for users to assess the suitability of a property for their needs. The technology has provided visual experiences such as neighborhood exploration, property tours, and furniture placement.
One of the reasons Xome® was named one of the 10 most helpful house hunting apps by U.S. News is how we have used AR with Xome Zoom®.
Xome Zoom is a feature in the Xome Real Estate mobile application that allows users to virtually discover new properties in their current location. With Xome Zoom, buyers and sellers can use the Xome Real Estate application for quick access to property information, enhancing their overall property research within seconds.
How Xome Zoom works
Xome Zoom uses location and camera services in the mobile app to mark properties in the AR world through the real-time camera view. This feature allows users to point their phone’s camera at any property, and view property details, along with the Xome Value estimate of the listing, as an extra layer on top of the camera view.
Additionally, Xome Zoom includes a circular map at the bottom of the screen to display property listing pins along with the user’s current location marker. By providing the user’s current location and a radius of 50 meters, Xome Zoom pulls listings from the back end so users can view information regarding multiple properties at once.
Apple’s ARKit framework was used for the iOS application and makes it possible to overlay Xome Zoom property information by placing a scene view using the ARSKView class. This places an anchor using the ARAnchor class on top of a house based on the listing’s coordinates.
For the Android application, the ARCore framework and the Sceneform plugin by Google were implemented when developing the Xome Zoom feature. ARCore provides fundamental tools for building AR applications including motion tracking, anchors, environmental and depth understanding, and light estimation.
How to Use Xome Zoom
Xome Zoom can be used for a variety of purposes, such as looking at the Xome Value Estimate of a user’s home and nearby homes, as well as comparing estimates to for-sale prices. It is especially useful for touring properties with a real estate agent and quickly viewing property information on the go.
Xome Zoom users can use the feature by opening the application and navigating to the Xome Zoom tab. By pointing their phone camera directly in front of them, they can see property information for one or more properties.
Xome Zoom can be used for a variety of purposes, such as looking at the Xome Value Estimate of a user’s home and nearby homes, as well as comparing estimates to for-sale prices. It is especially useful for touring properties with a real estate agent and quickly viewing property information on the go.
Xome Zoom users can use the feature by opening the application and navigating to the Xome Zoom tab. By pointing their phone camera directly in front of them, they can see property information for one or more properties.
The feature requires users to turn on their camera and GPS/location permissions mandatorily to work. While the application is in use, it continuously monitors any changes in the user’s location permissions and stops updating location, direction, and zoom functionality if the user turns off or restricts the permission.
Xome Zoom also checks for multiple error and failure cases while in use and notifies the user of issues or the need to enable certain functionalities (if not already enabled), including:
- Location permission
- Camera permission
- Unsupported configuration for AR
- Sensor failure
- Unavailability of motion sensor
When users move their camera to view surrounding properties, additional overlays of property information will appear in the camera view and the circular map. The user can then click any of the overlay boxes or properties in the circular map to view the full property listing.
The future of augmented reality at Xome
Xome uses AR for property research unlike any other real estate application. Home buyers and sellers can use it to find information on their own home, view details of surrounding homes in their location, and make quick decisions.
Out of all the Xome Real Estate application users, 15% are using the Xome Zoom feature and that number is growing. The application will continue to improve the more users take advantage of this feature.
Xome is always exploring more creative ways to enhance our users’ home buying and selling experience as our usage of AR continues to grow.
Want to try out Xome Zoom right now? Download the Xome Real Estate application available for iOS and Android.
