Ricoh Innovations Corporation, a subsidiary of Ricoh, has announced the launch of Ricoh Tours, an service that helps real estate agents uses its Theta V camera and an online portal to easily capture and create 360 tours of homes and apartments.
Currently, there are over 2 million licensed real estate agents in the United States. While the number of practicing agents is lower than that, there are still a large number of agents who could dramatically benefit from more immersive tours of houses and apartments.
Immersive tours are nothing new in the real estate market. Companies such as Matterport have been in the game for a while. The problem is the cost. The equipment is considerably high and getting it set up is complicated.
Ricoh Tours hopes to break down the barriers to entry, in both operation and cost. For $45 per month, realtors will be able to capture and host unlimited active tours. The only gear needed is the Ricoh Tours app — available for both Android and iOS — and Ricoh’s reality kit, which includes a Ricoh Theta V camera and the TM-1, a monopod that can stand on its own. The kit is available for purchase through the Ricoh Tours subscription plan for $420 — less than the cost of the Theta V alone, which retails for $430.
One of the selling points Ricoh emphasizes is the ease of use. After pairing the Ricoh Theta V with the Ricoh Tour app, it’s just a matter of setting up the camera in each room and snapping a shot. According to Ricoh, an average three-bedroom, two-bathroom house should take no more than 20 minutes to capture from beginning to end.
Another selling point is that the Ricoh Tours app helps provide realtors with analytics. By better understanding how homebuyers and renters are viewing and keeping an eye on properties, they can better adjust how they approach each sale.
In the press release for the Ricoh Tours announcement, Bret Shugrue, the marketing director of Bogar Pilkington Group, a real estate group from Colorado, said “our clients expect results, and this service helps our team to deliver quickly and easily – with no outside assistance or technology experience required. Our agents are truly impressed with its simplicity, and its affordability.”
Ricoh Tours is a simple way for realtors to share 360-degree home tours [Digital Trends]