Enhancing User Experience: Immersive Virtual Reality Property Showhouse

This paper presents the design and development of an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) Property Showhouse application and an initial study that explores the use of VR technology in enhancing user experience for viewing property showhouse. Despite virtual tour facilitating the visualization and marketing of actual properties via digital platforms, the persisting inadequacy of conventional approaches in delivering an authentic and immersive portrayal of property show units remains a challenge. In pursuit of addressing this challenge, the immersive VR Property Showhouse was developed to empower users to delve into Digital Home virtual tour in a more experiential and engaging manner. By capitalizing on immersive VR technology, users can traverse properties in a highly captivating and verisimilar fashion, cultivating a sense of presence and simulating the sensation of physically inhabiting the space. The technical details which include the design considerations for creating the immersive user experience for the app are presented. This paper additionally examines closely the existing literature on VR’s application in real estate, showcasing the prospective advantages of this technological marvel. To gauge the efficacy of the VR application a usability evaluation was conducted using the System Usability Scale (SUS) with 30 participants. The outcome of the user evaluation manifested a positive user experience, with an average SUS score of 85, signifying exceptional usability. These results provide important knowledge for those looking to integrate immersive VR into the real estate industry and contribute to understanding how VR can be designed and used effectively to enhance user engagement and understanding of properties, ultimately influencing their decision-making process. Given the soaring popularity of virtual tours, it is important for real estate practitioners and VR developers to continuous seek innovative approaches to refine the features and immersion quality of these tours, ultimately delivering an unparalleled experience for potential buyers.