Local Focus: VR debuts at Waikato Home & Garden Show

Searching for the perfect home is a daunting task but now a Hamilton company is using virtual reality to ease that pain, comparing it to walking through a doll's house.

"You know when you're a little kid and you have the dolls house and it's a half house and you get to walk a little doll up the stairs and stuff, that's how I see it." says Yeoman's Homes' Rebekah Kenny.

"Virtual reality... it's exactly the same, you might as well be walking around the room. Obviously you can't smell, you can't touch anything but you can visualise, you can see the artwork, you can see the carpet, you see the colours, you can get a feel of the room," Mrs Kenny says.

And it's an innovation that Mrs Kenny says would have been beneficial when she was house hunting four years ago.

"So one weekend, on the Saturday morning we did twenty open homes. It was a nightmare. In the end, I almost gave up."

Mrs Kenny says virtual reality technology would have saved a lot of time and effort looking at properties weekend after weekend.

Adam Wilson is the project manager for Yeoman Homes and says he has been involved with the company's use of virtual reality from day one.

"This way the potential property buyers should be able to eliminate some potential homes that they may not want. Once they've gone through the various homes using the VR headsets, they can then engage with the sales agent to physically see a property. You don't actually have to drive around town all day," Mr Wilson says.

And while this technology is helping streamline the house hunting process, nothing can beat the real thing according to Harcourts Agent Campbell Scott.

"For a lot of people it will reduce the list, so they will be able to come up with a short-list with those technology tools but the tactile experience that you get by going there - how does the sun fall on the outdoor living area, can I hear the trains, can I hear the traffic, all that kind of stuff - you'll only get that from going to the property," Mr Wilson says.

Yeoman Homes is showcasing the ground-breaking technology for the first time at the Waikato Home and Garden show until Sunday.

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