The COVID-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for rapid digital transformation across various fields. As those who have recently searched for a home will know, this momentum is accelerating in the real estate and interior design sectors. Amidst this, Spacely, a provider of spatial data utilization platforms, has recently released an alpha version of its new "Panorama Conversion 3D," which converts panoramic images into 3D. Furthermore, they have simultaneously announced the official release of an AI space design tool that allows free furniture layout within the 3D space, prompting our visit. How has it evolved in terms of realism and convenience?

Spacely, the developer, was founded by Hiroyuki Morita, who has a background as a JAXA researcher and a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and launched its VR services in 2016.

Its flagship service, also named "Spacely," is cloud software that enables integrated production, editing, management, and utilization of high-quality panoramic VR content playable on web browsers.

2016 was dubbed the "Year of VR" (Virtual Reality), and Spacely was one of the earliest companies, both domestically and internationally, to focus on the business of 360° VR.

In fact, VR is a technology that has long been used in astronaut training. Considering this, the connection with Mr. Morita, a former JAXA researcher, becomes understandable.

Currently, Spacely holds four VR-related patents, including AI technology for estimating the position and orientation of 360-degree camera shots, improvements in AI size estimation accuracy, algorithms for placing furniture in AI space design, and panorama 3D model conversion technology. They boast the top market share in installations for rental housing providers.

While VR technology is advancing rapidly, Spacely has seen inquiries from businesses increase approximately fivefold compared to the previous year and the year before. The number of VR content views has also tripled, indicating a surge in demand for 360-degree VR content during the pandemic.

In the post-COVID era, a hybrid approach combining real and virtual experiences is expected to become the standard in the real estate sector.

Therefore, we would like to introduce some examples from the alpha version of "Panorama Conversion 3D" and the official version of AI space design, which were announced on the same day.

A common scenario in detached and rental housing is when potential residents cannot conduct an in-person viewing due to reasons such as moving or before renovations.

In such cases, existing furniture and remaining items can be removed with simple operations. Furthermore, users can freely arrange their preferred furniture, making it easier to visualize the space upon moving in.

One real estate company in the Hokuriku region has leveraged this "furniture removal" and "furniture layout" VR technology, with a single agent achieving 10 exclusive property contracts per month for six consecutive months.

Additionally, for detached properties, staging with actual furniture is often used to help buyers imagine living there. This offers a significant cost saving, eliminating the hundreds of thousands of yen typically charged by staging companies.

Furthermore, by offering home staging tools online, they have seen an increase in user engagement time on their website and a rise in inquiries.

Moreover, as a VR furniture simulator, they have partnered with 40 furniture manufacturers, including Karimoku Furniture and Francfranc, enabling the placement of real furniture. The system automatically optimizes the scale ratio between the interior and the furniture. There are links for furniture movement paths, and they plan to use this for promoting furniture suited to specific rooms in the future.

Meanwhile, the promotion of remote work due to the pandemic has led to an increase in people choosing to relocate to rural areas or adopt a multi-location lifestyle. In this context, the use of VR in municipalities facing challenges of depopulation and aging populations is also noteworthy.

This is the relocation and settlement portal site for Etajima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, called "A Moderately Island Life". The site utilizes Spacely's VR system, and due to the pandemic, inquiries in 2021 doubled compared to 2020, with contract numbers increasing by approximately 2.4 times year-on-year.

Even for distant moves, the abundance of information and visuals available beforehand likely reduces discrepancies with the actual viewing, making it easier to finalize a contract.

We realized that many things previously thought to be possible only in person, such as property viewings, are increasingly becoming feasible online and virtually.

The system is expected to be applied to employee training in the future. Incidentally, VR technology of this kind has also been introduced for employee training at Walmart, the world's largest supermarket chain.

While VR technology still feels underutilized in Japan, its evolution will undoubtedly make our lives more convenient than ever before.