Canadian photography services business EGP TechnoVirtuel selected Urbanimmersive (UI.V) to handle their 3D tours and the provision of their floor plans today.
EGP had been using other 3D scanning solutions for several years prior to starting a through search to find another solution that would serve both their own productivity needs and also those of their clients. After a suitable amount of trials and 3D tour tech comparisons, EGP decided that Urbanimmersive 3D tours and integrated floor plans would be the best for their real estate photography business.
“High-volume photography businesses are looking for low cost hardware, quick photo shooting time and fast delivery turnaround. Thanks to our advanced AI-backed automated post-production algorithm, we can produce 3D tours and floor plans in just a couple of minutes, with most being delivered within 24 hours depending of the amount of jobs, while compared to 2 to 5 days from some of our competitors using the 360 cameras. With the recent launch of our premium floor plan solution, photographers do not need to look at other solutions to deliver the full package to their clients anymore. Having our 3D tours and floor plans being adopted by one of the largest photography businesses in Canada is a big endorsement and a clear indicator that we are very well positioned to continue attracting similar types of clients to our platform,” said Ghislain Lemire, CEO of Urbanimmersive.
Real estate 3D tours like the ones Urbanimmersive offers are produced using two categories of equipment: 3D scanners and 360 cameras. The former use laser and/or infrared systems allowing for 3D tours creation processes. The process takes a few hours using a 3D scanner. The problem is they come with a high cost and time on site utilization due to strict scanning rules and other limitations, even as they offer a faster run through post-production, which is required in the real estate market.
In comparison 360 cameras are mainly just imagery cameras allowing photographers to decide how they want to showcase the final 3D environment based on time constraints of the shooting session. Time in post-production is also considerably longer because 360 cameras don’t have 3D scanning systems to help with the creation of 3D scenes. Think days instead of hours, which means turnaround is not only costly in terms of time, but also in money.
“As 3D virtual tours are now becoming the norm in the real estate industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more photographers are competing on virtual 3D tour prices to attract and retain agents. High-volume photography businesses need greater production efficiency in shootings, faster delivery time, appropriate margins and added value to stay competitive. Urbanimmersive has proved to exceed all these criteria thanks to their very unique platform integrating customized and branded property websites, 3D tours, 3D Pocket Websites and integrated floor plans,” said Eric Paquette, president of EGP.
Ultimately, Urbanimmersive’s 3D tours post-production technology reduces time in post linked to the use of 360 cameras due to its backing by artificial intelligence. Photographers can therefore reduce their hardware overhead, speed up their shooting time on site and have their 3D tours delivered in a few days after uploading them to the company’s platform and let the algorithm’s take over. The algorithm also reduces cost for post-production to a fraction of other competitive solutions on the market.
—Joseph Morton
