Visualise your dream home!
HEC and INTERHOMES develop augmented reality app to visualize buildings on site.
Looking at the construction site of the development project “Dichtervillen in Karlshorst”,there is not much more to see yet than a pit and a crane. Fortunately, people do not have to wait until the building is finished to see the results. HEC GmbH, a Bremen based software developer, and INTERHOMES AG, a Bremen based property developer, launched an augmented reality app that enhances the user’s view of the construction site by adding a full-scale computer-based model of the Dichtervillen buildings.
Augmented reality (AR) integrates digital information with the user’s environment in real time. “(Prospective) clients have the opportunity to see what the buildings will look like regardless of office hours. They get a realistic impression of their future home and neighborhood since they can walk down their street to be.” says Frank Vierkötter, CEO of INTERHOMES AG. Moreover, customers can refresh their memories at home since the app also offers a miniature model of the buildings that can be placed e.g. on the kitchen table. The app works on all newer generation smartphones and tablets.
Innovative technology
“The exciting thing about our application is that you can experience the buildings of a complete, yet non-existent neighborhood, directly on site and on all current iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. This has never been the case before.” says Thorsten Haase, Managing Director of HEC. “The app’s interface has been designed in a way that it can be used intuitively. We are very pleased that we have been able to solve this task so well together with INTERHOMES and that they can now offer real added value to their customers”.
In about two months, HEC’s AR experts created the virtual buildings based on construction plans, added textures and colors, programmed the application and positioned the buildings to match the Berlin based construction site. The main technical challenges were finding the exact right position of the buildings and making such an advanced application executable on all current mobile operating systems.
“We are technically advanced enough these days to deliver a working prototype within a very short time period.” says Dennis Hoffmann who was part of the HEC team of developers. The next step for INTERHOMES is going to be a virtual reality application that enables prospective customers to virtually walk into houses and apartments. With the help of VR glasses, they will be able to get a very realistic feeling of the building.
The app can be downloaded here: interhomes.de/dichtervillen-3d.
If you need more information: https://hec.de/blog/das-neue-heim-per-smartphone-interaktiv-erleben/
