• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea

3

Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion

1

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026

2

CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea

3

Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
TechFuture of Work

Now you can shop for luxury homes in virtual reality

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 9, 2015, 10:00 AM ET
Matthew Hood
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Right now, the rich and famous are touring homes in virtual reality—and in a few years, so could everyone.

The Matthew Hood Real Estate Group at Sotheby’s International Realty (BID) has begun experimenting with Samsung Gear VR as a new showcase for multi-million dollar homes based in Los Angeles, as well as luxury residences in the Hamptons and in New York City.

Hood says the types of homes this works best for today are high-end homes, because the cost of scanning a home for VR ranges from $300-$700. The real estate agent first experimented with filming 360-degree video of homes using a stationary camera set-up with 10 GoPro cameras, but 3D scans allow a customer to walk through a house using a hand controller for navigation.

VR lets Hood show homes from across the country or across the world, and get the same view as the buyer.

“I can lead a VR tour remotely and even see where the client is looking, which allows me to address things like a kitchen counter style while they’re looking at it—just as I would in a real world tour,” Hood says.

 

Hood is pushing to create a network across Sotheby’s offices, so that when he has a listing like a $7 million Venice, Calif., home he just 3D-scanned for VR, the San Francisco office can access that content for Silicon Valley companies. (Venice has been dubbed “Silicon Beach” because of all the tech companies that have opened there recently.)

Los Angeles, in particular, is a city that was built for VR real estate tours, according to Hood. It can take two days to visit 10 houses because of traffic, which is a lot of time for an executive to take off work. VR also allows buyers throughout Asia and Europe to check out homes before flying in to finalize a deal. On the seller side, VR allows celebrities and owners of expensive homes to focus on only buyers with legitimate interest in purchasing.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes one of the reasons Facebook (FB) purchased Oculus VR last year for $2 billion is because of VR’s real estate potential.

“You could do real estate open houses with 360-degree views and have a client come to your office and check out 50 homes through a head-mounted display and then pick the top ones to visit in person,” Pachter says. “Facebook looks at VR as skipping the realtor completely.”

Hood doesn’t believe that will happen any time soon.

[fortune-brightcove videoid=4265053466001]

 

“Buying a home completely in VR may be possible, but not for another 15 to 20 years,” Hood says. “There are complications involving homes that require expertise and continue to require third-party involvement.”

Hood believes VR will trickle down to lower-priced homes for everyday sales within five years. He sees the floodgates opening once the Zillow of VR is created.

“A number of young tech companies are exploring an entirely in-VR experience where you enter search criteria like price, location, and number of rooms and you’re presented a number of homes and you can virtually tour,” Hood says. “Once that happens, you’ll look back and say, ‘How did we do this before?’”

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

 

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

A ChatGPT prompt almost killed Ryan Serhant’s $50 million NYC penthouse deal. Here’s how he saved it
Real EstateBrainstorm Tech
A ChatGPT prompt almost killed Ryan Serhant’s $50 million NYC penthouse deal. Here’s how he saved it
By Sydney LakeJune 16, 2026
32 minutes ago
UX UI designers working together
SuccessCareers
Marketing jobs are among the most exposed to AI. Adobe and LinkedIn are teaming up to ensure the industry is upskilled—not replaced
By Preston ForeJune 16, 2026
35 minutes ago
Two mayors, one $10 billion AI data center, and a growing divide in small-town Texas
AIPolitics
Two mayors, one $10 billion AI data center, and a growing divide in small-town Texas
By Sharon GoldmanJune 16, 2026
35 minutes ago
Agentic AI systems are doing more and more work. Now humans need to figure out how to verify it all
AIBrainstorm Tech
Agentic AI systems are doing more and more work. Now humans need to figure out how to verify it all
By Alexei OreskovicJune 15, 2026
7 hours ago
Gina Rinehart
InvestingSpaceX
Australia’s richest person just bought a SpaceX stake worth more than $1 billion. ‘Elon has done what very few people in history have done’
By Jacqueline MunisJune 15, 2026
11 hours ago
Top analyst: 71% of SpaceX’s $2 trillion value rests on AI. Grok’s numbers are ‘almost comical’ by comparison
Startups & VentureSpaceX
Top analyst: 71% of SpaceX’s $2 trillion value rests on AI. Grok’s numbers are ‘almost comical’ by comparison
By Mia OsmonbekovJune 15, 2026
12 hours ago

Most Popular

Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
19 hours ago
CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea
Success
CEO of $20 billion AI firm Perplexity says the secret to success is ‘sleeping with that fear’ that your competitor will steal your idea
By Preston ForeJune 13, 2026
3 days ago
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
Startups & Venture
Meet Gwynne Shotwell, the engineer-turned-COO who runs SpaceX in platform heels and is now worth over $2 billion
By Eva RoytburgJune 15, 2026
1 day ago
Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?
Economy
Boomers actually do hold most of the wealth and power. So why do they call it 'whiny' to point that out?
By Nick LichtenbergJune 14, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, June 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 15, 2026
19 hours ago
Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983
Personal Finance
Social Security's 2032 deadline puts a 22% cut on the table — but Washington has way less room to negotiate than 1983
By John W. Diamond and The ConversationJune 12, 2026
4 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.