G.J. Gardner Homes NZ launches virtual reality catalogue

G.J. Gardner Homes New Zealand has partnered with Australian proptech company Enviz to bring its home catalogue into virtual reality, allowing customers to experience house designs remotely.

The initiative enables potential buyers to virtually walk through home designs and layouts from any location at any time, complementing the company’s physical display villages.

Ellie Porteous, Managing Director of G.J. Gardner Homes New Zealand, said: “Having many of our concept plans available as virtual experiences on the GJ NZ app provides our customers with the ability to walk through the designs in real-life scale.”

The virtual tours aim to give customers a better understanding of spatial relationships and design flow compared to traditional 2D drawings.

Porteous added: “Customers can show designs to friends and family, to get their insight or showcase the design of their future home.”

The technology is expected to streamline the initial stages of the house-building process by allowing customers to visualise designs before construction begins.

Michael Shaw, Enviz’s CEO and Co-Founder, stated: “We expect the use of virtual experiences and augmented reality tools to continue to grow in future in the housing industry, as these tools offer consumers and salespeople an incredibly realistic and efficient means of visualising house designs.”

The virtual experiences will also be available on TradeMe.co.nz, New Zealand’s largest real estate portal, allowing consumers to explore listed house designs virtually.

G.J. Gardner Homes reports that despite initial concerns about lack of realism, the quality and 1:1 scale of the virtual experiences provide users with an authentic sense of walking through a home.

The company sees the technology as a valuable tool for both customers and salespeople, enhancing the home selection process and familiarising staff with various concept designs.