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On the surface, it appears that video games and real estate may not have a lot in common. However, both are driven by experiences and are extremely visual in nature. Comparisons don’t end there. The best video games are brought to life by being engaging and striking to look at. It’s a similar story for property.
Rolling Ant was one of the first companies to realize the similarities. The firm decided to create an innovative range of real estate viewing solutions after spending 16 years developing Xbox 360 and PlayStation triple A titles for companies such as Microsoft, EA and Disney. It’s background in video games allowed it to see the property sector in a new and exciting light.
“We saw that a lot of what works with video games applies to different businesses as well. So, we took a major leap and put resources into developing Rolling Ant’s solution to better serve the real estate industry,” Nam Hoai Nguyen, Rolling Ant CEO and Founder, recalls. “We have innovation in our DNA, so the ‘game’ team constantly works on new features and tools that can then be applied to the real estate industry.”
Traditional digital viewing solutions used by the real estate industry tend to focus exclusively on the visual aspect of a project. This is important, but also misses a crucial element that can create a bond between a person and property even if it isn’t built yet. Rolling Ant realized people required something more than pretty things to look at. They needed an engaging experience like they’d find in a video game.
“The difference between our services and other digital/arch visualization is not about visuals. It is about how we stimulate the project and find ways to gamify the viewing experience,” Nam explains. “Our approach is to understand the unique selling point of a project and then create an emerging moment that captures it.”
In order to do this, Rolling Ant builds fully interactive virtual environments where people have the freedom to really explore and view projects from any angle and in any light or environmental condition. Anyone can roam at a leisurely pace in an open world-style setting where they chart their own course.
That innovation is allowing homebuyers in Vietnam to make more informed decisions about buying off-plan property. By creating an engaging experience, Rolling Ant has removed the uncertainty that usually causes people to hesitate or feel uncertain.
“Today’s homebuyers are astute and intelligent. They want as much data and information as possible before making the decision to buy or not,” Nam says. “Rolling Ant’s solution helps show them all perspectives at any time of the day from any angle. We cover the imagination gap for purchasers.”
Innovation at the right time
The Vietnam real estate market is in a period of growth and advancement. Developers continue to launch more ambitious projects which require a significant level of storytelling. Rolling Ant’s innovation has come at a great time for the property sector as it can help showcase engaging experiences as opposed to linear visualization.
“The real estate market has brought a lot of master urban planning projects with mixed-use developments, large-scale residential communities and many other project types being built across Vietnam. The planning and vision of some of these developments has taken more than a decade to create,” Nam points out. “We want to not only accurately showcase these developments but also allow people to see the beautiful future of each one.”
Among the most interesting things about the technology Rolling Ant uses is just how detailed it can be. The experience shows people every last detail about a project which would have been unheard of as recently as five years ago. The public no longer has to wonder about what something will look like. Instead, they can see it for themselves.
“Projects in Vietnam have gone from being a couple hundred units to now having a couple thousand, from 10 hectares to 1000 hectares. The strength of our technology is that it can show people every last tile of a project no matter the size,” Nam states. “We have developed a backend tool to create movies and images for every single unit among the thousands.”
Rolling Ant believes it is the only team in the world that can create a fully interactive PC application for urban planning developments of up to 1000 hectares. Several of Vietnam’s leading developers have already tapped into this power to showcase their projects.
For example, Novaland enlisted Rolling Ant for the 1000-hectare Novaworld Phan Thiet resort complex and Aqua City, a massive township project. Other homebuilders to have partnered with the company include Masterise Homes, Keppel Land and Son Kim Land.
“Our technology allows everyone to visit any corner of a project using a street-eye level view. In high-rise buildings, potential buyers can visit any unit and feel the view from the balcony. Not a generic view of what you may see, but the actual view they will experience in real life. Off-plan buyers will see exactly what they can expect as opposed to a more general sense of what a unit might be,” Nam says.
Last year saw Rolling Ant presented with the Special Recognition Award for Innovation at the Dot Property Vietnam Awards. The honor not only validated its decision to move into the real estate sector but showed the entire industry the importance of having a unique perspective.
Winning has inspired Rolling Ant to keep innovating. The company is already looking at how it can provide property buyers with more immersive experiences and new hardware could lead to some really exciting advancements.
“The recognition from Dot Property is such a big achievement for us. For the Rolling Ant team, it is a big push that will keep us rolling forward,” Nam concluded.