Earlier this year, KB Home broke ground on a new venture without lifting a shovel and is believed to be the first U.S. homebuilder to introduce new home communities in the United States. metaversea virtual reality space that allows users to interact with computer-generated environments and other users.
The company’s foray deeper into the digital world is aimed at connecting with the next generation of new home buyers, millennials, who have reached what was previously considered their prime home-buying years. This demographic is also familiar with the many technologies surrounding the metaverse, creating a viable and desirable channel to connect with them as potential homebuyers.
teeth KB HomeIs the Metaverse initiative the first step in carving out a new path for the housing industry, or is this an exciting move by an innovative company that has identified a novel resource that can be used to effectively connect with young, tech-savvy buyers? Is this a creative foray into previously unknown territory?
KB Home’s virtual new home community in the Metaverse is located at: Decentraland, the popular Metaverse platform. In addition to Welcome His Pavilion, the builder’s site includes three distinctly different model homes (see below), each representing a popular floor plan. The model is interactive, allowing visitors to explore the model more deeply at their own pace.
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The KB Home site also offers a virtual host to welcome guests and provide information about the benefits of purchasing a KB home and how to follow up with a builder in the real world or on a traditional website.
After being greeted at the Welcome Center, visitors are introduced to model homes and exterior styles including Modern Spanish, Farmhouse and Craftsman. After a brief introduction to the unique exterior, visitors enter the Craftsman home and the host explains KB Home’s ability to personalize the home to the buyer’s wants and needs.
Why should home builders expand into the metaverse?
“KB Home has a long history of innovation, including a series of firsts, all with a common theme: a desire to help more families achieve their dream of homeownership. ” said Amit Desai, the company’s chief marketing officer.Desai believes KB Home’s virtual new community in the metaverse This is a new first and provides an additional means to connect with customers. “The virtual model embodies the personalization that we value,” he says. This includes interactive exterior design choices and interior features such as flooring, cabinetry, faucets, and lighting.
Desai believes KB Home’s new community in Metaverse is a new first and provides additional avenues to connect with customers. “The virtual model embodies our focus on personalization,” he says. This includes exterior design choices and interior features such as flooring, cabinetry, faucets, and lighting.
Why should home builders consider digital twins? They are poised to provide immense value to your construction business through a variety of practical applications.
During their visit, buyers will learn about KB Home’s commitment to quality, innovative design, and sustainability, and are encouraged to continue the process in the physical world or on KB Home’s website.
“By offering the opportunity to virtually explore KB new home communities, we are merging the physical and digital worlds in a seamless and interactive way,” said Desai. towards seamless processes and unprecedented interactions. “This is just the beginning of a technological revolution that could fundamentally impact how we and other home builders market, add value and even transfer home ownership.”
What’s next for home builders?
The presence of home builders in the metaverse will continue to evolve, and the next stage may be widespread home builders. Deployment of digital twinthat is, an exact digital replica of a physical object (such as a house) that is augmented with data collected in the physical world to enable manipulation, provide information, and facilitate an interactive user experience.
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A common (or at least familiar) example is: NASA’s use of digital twins During the Apollo 13 mission, in response to an oxygen tank explosion and subsequent damage to the main engine. NASA used a variety of simulators to analyze the problem and enhance the physical model to incorporate digital components. Not only did the digital twin help save that mission, but the technology has been widely adopted and applied to an ever-growing variety of use case scenarios.
A metaverse is not required for a digital twin to work. Rather, the metaverse enables digital twins to provide immersive experiences.
Digital twin strategy for home builders
Why should home builders consider digital twins? In short, they are poised to provide immense value to your construction business through a variety of practical applications, including:
- Reduce dependence on model homes. Model homes represent a significant expense for new home builders, and costs increase in proportion to interest rates. Builders can leverage digital twins to reduce the number of model homes in new communities and reallocate the saved capital to essential expenditures, such as option payments on undeveloped land.
- Next level virtual tours. Builders can give buyers virtual tours of properties they’re interested in or show them homes they can’t or don’t want to visit in person. Additionally, virtual tours using digital twins can include not only amenities and services within the development, but also nearby amenities and services such as schools, large employers, shopping, transportation routes, etc. Tour participants will also be able to view interviews with relevant representatives, including local high school principals and buyers who have purchased similar homes from the builder and are happy to share their experiences.
- After sale. Digital twins are used post-sale for purposes such as facilitating an ongoing relationship with the buyer or providing the buyer with a digital twin containing useful information about the home in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT). is also helpful. It applies to the original purchaser as well as subsequent owners and includes tools such as warranty and maintenance policies and procedures.
After occupancy, the digital twin can be updated by the purchaser or service provider with information about operating costs and maintenance, making it a living virtual model that can be transferred upon resale. Alternatively, digital twins can be used for basic purposes, such as deciding what colors to paint a room or planning where to place different pieces of furniture.
At this early stage, the value of a digital model is a product of the extent to which its usefulness exceeds the incremental effort required to use it. For example, the rise of telecommuting and remote working has allowed employees to live further away from their employer’s physical office. The immersive virtual experience provided by digital twins allows prospective buyers to visit homes in a community they might not otherwise consider.
The value of a digital twin includes a connection to the larger community that is not necessarily possible (or affordable) for most homeowners. For example, if a digital model is placed in the metaverse, homeowners can meet with friends and family virtually, allowing those who cannot attend in person to participate in milestone events.
Depending on the structure of the digital twin, the builder may be able to access information about the maintenance needs of the physical home after closing. This feedback helps manufacturers leverage feedback to improve their products while staying close to their customers.
Home builders are just beginning to explore how their presence in the metaverse can add value not just during the purchasing process, but for years after the sale. Early adopters can leverage its benefits to strengthen their unique selling proposition, potentially extending it across their portfolio, increasing the value of their homes and perhaps even further enhancing the image of an already well-known brand.
Exceedant Web3 Metaverse Partners Drive innovative brand engagement for your organization through digital real estate and other assets on Sandbox, Decentraland, and other Metaverse platforms. Buy, rent, or license locations using Exceedant Web3 Metaverse. Services include acquisition, architectural design/construction, construction, brokerage, and management.
