3D Models to Take on Vital CRE Role

SAN FRANCISCO—3D technology is knocking at the door of the commercial real estate world and in many firms, it has been welcomed in. As part of that marketing and adoption effort, former Apple iTunes exec Chris Bell was recently named Matterport‘s new chief marketing officer. Bell was previously the head of worldwide marketing and product management for Apple’s iTunes division, where he was responsible for overseeing marketing for iTunes’ flagship products across 119 countries in support of a $5 billion online retail business.

His appointment follows Matterport’s milestone of having amassed more than 1 million 3D models of real-world environments–the largest repository of 3D space data in the world–which will fuel the company’s creation of artificial intelligence-based computer vision tech. In this exclusive, Bell recently discussed this technology and its impact.

GlobeSt.com: Why did you decide to join Matterport?

Bell: At heart, I’m a product guy. Matterport has that rare combination of technology innovation coupled with real world use-cases that are generating real revenue today. The company has proven its value through practical applications of its products in a variety of industries: from real estate to architecture, engineering and construction and beyond, combined with a clear vision for the future. I love the idea that Matterport is being used today by thousands of professionals to experiment and help grow their businesses, and yet we’re still just scratching the surface on the full capacity of this technology.

GlobeSt.com: As you step into your new role as CMO at Matterport, what are you finding to be the key similarities and differences between your time at Apple and your current experience at Matterport?

Bell: What’s similar about both Apple and Matterport is each company’s ability to lead market innovations through anticipation of its customers’ wants, needs and objectives, often ahead of the curve. Matterport has already demonstrated an incredible ability to capture the imagination of users and online viewers, leaving them wondering how they ever survived without this new technology. Additionally, both companies are hyper-committed to ease-of-use and deep hardware/software integration, so customers are able to easily and cost effectively benefit from technology without the need for dense manuals or technical training.

GlobeSt.com: How do you see AI and deep learning impacting the immersive media landscape? Does Matterport have plans to explore the AI/deep learning arena?

Bell: 3D today means so much more than capture, gaming and virtual walk-throughs. AI and deep learning are already a major focus for Matterport. We are widely recognized us as the hardware-software-services platform that makes it easy to create, modify and distribute 3D models. But by building the world’s largest library of 3D models of real-world spaces, we’re also amassing one of the most robust sets of digital property-related data in the world: data that can be used to train AI and drive the creation of new augmented reality applications. This goes far beyond capturing one piece of property, one space or one object in a space. This is about teaching a computer how to think about spaces and objects in general, and then make decisions or merge reality capture with data intelligently.

GlobeSt.com: Where do you see this type of technology in the next five years?

Bell: Within five years or less, 3D experiences will be the norm. This will become the expected medium for experiencing spaces virtually, and as that shift happens, professionals and their clients will feel even more confident relying on 3D models to make decisions around properties and spaces. It’s also quite apparent that augmented reality applications, where information, data and media are overlaid on top of real-world spaces, is an area exploding with innovation.

GlobeSt.com: What is Matterport’s key audience and where is it looking to expand?

Bell: Beyond residential real estate, we’ve seen significant traction among architects, engineers, and construction firms.  These professionals use our technology at every stage of the property lifecycle, from design and documentation to ongoing maintenance and operations applications of buildings. Our key vertical markets also include travel and hospitality, retail and more recently, insurance and restoration has come on the radar.

GlobeSt.com: Matterport has an enormous library of 3D tours. Do you have a favorite? Is there a 3D tour that you saw that made you especially interested in Matterport?

Bell: There are definitely a lot of very cool ones to pick from, but one of my personal favorite scans is the Hamburg Planetarium in Germany. I’ve been a big fan of astronomy since I was a kid visiting the Hayden Planetarium in New York, and this particular one has a unique architectural structure that makes it interesting to virtually walk through. It makes me want to visit in person someday.

We also have a creative Matterport service provider in London that scanned Churchill’s underground bunker used as a base of operations during WWII. It’s super cool to tour that space and imagine all that went on behind the scenes during the war as if you are there. On his own time, this same photographer/service provider has created scans of educational settings to help children with sensory issues on the autism spectrum learn to adjust to their environments before they arrive at school for the first time. I love the human element of this work and the way he uses Matterport to better his community and the lives of others. In applications like this, Matterport makes a fundamental difference in people’s lives and lifelong learning. That’s part of how you know you’re onto something.