One great hallmark of 2013 was rapid technological transformation. New apps and gadgets emerged in quick succession in a virtual leap frog of releases by major players. The field of real estate is the primary beneficiary of several key advances. Here are five top 2013 innovations that impact real estate. These exciting advances flew onto our radar screens in 2013.
- Civilian Drones. The aerial listing tour has become a reality. Visual capture of surrounding neighborhoods, parks and terrain from the sky, arrests the attention of shoppers, and multiplies the marketing appeal of virtual tours. Drones facilitate indoor tours also; generating a virtual viewing experience that exceeds the scope of an in-person property tour. Virtual retailers such as (Amazon) are working to perfect drones for package delivery. Even restaurants are considering aerial squads of delivery drones.
- Wearable Tech Tools.– The Dick Tracy style wrist watch phone arrived. Primarily a remote control for your cell phone, some models have a healthy bundle of apps and capabilities. Samsung CEO, J.K. Shin predicts their model will become “a new fashion icon around the world.”
- The 3-D Printer – What does the 3-D printer have to offer real estate? It could just change the housing industry forever. Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California, has unveiled a 3-D printer which can reportedly “build a house in 24 hours”. It’s a giant robot whose computer –directed nozzle ejects concrete in a custom pattern, creating walls. Tradesmen then install windows, doors and other necessities.
- The innovation has major implications for emergency housing replacement associated with natural disasters. It has implications for affordable housing across the globe and is also being studied by NASA for extraterrestrial possibilities.
- The innovative KeyMe App (a 3-D printer based innovation) allows users to print out new keys in less than 30 seconds (according to their website). Customers are advised to take photos of each of their keys. When one is lost, replace it by forwarding the image to KeyMe and a replacement is printed and delivered. Duplicate keys are routinely printed in KeyMe kiosks. They can even be customized with various logos and images for promotional or sentimental value.
- A local news broadcast recently reported that a 3-D printer has successfully printed human tissue and skin. Research teams led by Dr. Thomas Boland of the University of Texas at El Paso, expect to custom- produce organs suitable for transplant sometime in the distant future. That has nothing to do with real estate but was just too cool to pass up.
- Virtual Money—Manhattan real estate broker, Bond New York, reportedly accepts Bitcoin for real estate transactions. The firm is thought to be the first in the industry to green-light the virtual currency.
- The Internet of Things—The possibility of our home systems and appliances communicating with our devices is now on the horizon. Google agreed to pay $3.2 billion cash for Nest Labs, a programmable home thermostat company.
Analysts envision the possibility that in the near future; upon departing your residence you might receive a text message from your refrigerator announcing that you are low on butter and milk required by the recipe you printed from the internet last evening. It might further advise of the nearest grocer currently stocking those items at the best price. Future listing descriptions might detail which listings contain interactive appliances and systems and which protocols they are compatible with. There are many other innovations that impact real estate in a profound way. Which ones grabbed your attention during the year?
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Photo Courtesy of : Contour Crafting and MSN Innovation