The New Standard In Home Theaters? 360 Degree 3D Cinema

3Dwalkthroughs.com just became aware of the world's first 360 degree 3D cinema, debuting now at the University of New South Wales.

As part of the Sydney Festival, the university's iCinema Centre for Interactive Cinema Research is showcasing its "T-Visionarium", a virtual reality theatre that is 10metres wide and 4metres high.

Wearing 3D glasses, a Cinema goer steps into the cylindrical cinema, selects the video clips they want to watch using a computer program, and produce and direct where they want the story to go.

From the 30-metre-curved screen, the viewers experience being surrounded by hundreds of Australian television broadcast clips moving in three dimensions.

Source: The Epoch Times

The T-Visionarium is not only being used as entertainment, but is also being used as an immersive 3D training tool. Four mining companies have already purchased the technology to train their workers on proper maintenance techniques, how to work machinery underground, as well as the obvious, emergency response protocol.

About TVisionarium Mk II
TVisionarium Mk II is "an immersive eye-popping stereo 3D interactive 360-degree experience where a user can search through a vast database of television shows and rearrange their shots in the virtual space that surrounds them."

Click Here for a YouTube video which describes the immersive 3D experience

UpNext- Detailed 3D Map of Every Building in NYC

UpNext, a 4 person New York City start-up, has created a facebook application that bridges the gap between the 2D maps and images seen on Google Maps, Live Maps, and Yahoo Maps. It also brings a new level of functionality to Google Earth and Virtual Earth.

UpNext has launched an extremely detailed 3D map of Manhattan which shows almost every building in the city. In addition to the impressive detail of each building, UpNext's technology includes the following features: Users can pan and zoom within the 3D map,click on a building to get its full tenant list or even type a specific address to fly directly to the building. Another unique feature of the UpNext technology is the ability to set filters which highlight nearby restaurants, bars, stores, hotels, museums, or sports facilities.

Integrating the UpNext technology into Facebook gives their 3D map added value by allowing a user to benefit from the experiences of all their Facebook friends. The application includes a friend slider for easy sorting and viewing all the places they’ve rated.

3Dwalkthroughs.com thinks the UpNext technology could be a perfect complement to our Custom 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans by serving as an entry point to our Manhattan based presentations. The ability to learn so much about an area surrounding one of our development projects in Manhattan is extremely valuable to our clients, expecially one viewing the property from a remote location. Hopefully UpNext will get the investment they are looking for so we can utilize their application in other parts of the country.

3D Walkthroughs - Which Unit Should You Choose?

3Dwalkthroughs.com often runs into 2 schools of thought when deciding which unit to showcase when creating 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Floor Plans or 3D Renderings for a development property. Almost all of the companies we work with want to show a full exterior view along with any amenity areas that are included as part of the development.

The decision that differs amongst development companies is which unit to showcase in the 3D presentation. Some marketing departments like to show the best unit the devlopment has to offer. The thought process behind this philosophy is that the largest number of inquiries will be generated. Once they get these potential buyers into a sales office they can always upsell other features of the building. The goal is to get them to overlook the fact that the actual unit that is available or affordable is much different that the one in the marketing presentation.

The second school of thought is to showcase a unit type that is not being sold as fast as the other units. The 3D presentation of these types of units can highlight other features of the building, but more importantly, the properties purchasing agent knows they are getting much more qualified clients.

We have seen cases that validate both of these schools of thought. It seems that this decision is often based on the timing of when the 3D presentations are introduced as part of the marketing materials. If they are introduced at the beginning of the marketing plan, it is more likely that the best unit available will be showcased. In contrast, if the 3D presentation is introduced after the marketing efforts have begun, it is more likely that a developer will want to showcase a unit type that is not selling as fast as the others.

Blog For Google 3D Warehouse Part 4 (October Pick)

As many of you know, 3Dwalkthroughs.com selects our favorite 3D model each month from Greg Rose's blog which highlights new 3D building models as they are added to Google's 3D Warehouse.

Our monthly selection is based on impressive: architecture, level of detail, level of realism etc.

For the month of October we have chosen New Nou Camp. I chose this particular model as I was intrigued by the use of colors and curves.

Description
After 50 years of wonderful memories, the Camp Nou is looking to the future with optimism. The world-famous firm of architects, Foster + Partners, is to undertake the remodelling of the stadium based on the initial concepts of Francesc Mitjans. Home of FC Barcelona this new stadium will feature a glittering facade studded with colored polycarbonate and glass panels, creating a scaly skin of sorts, serving to shade, shelter, provide natural ventilation, and make a strong visual statement. The redesign will increase the Camp Nou's capacity from 98,000 to 106,000. The construction work will begin in 2009 and is due to be completed by the start of the 2011-2012 season. Total cost of the project is 250 million euro. Model made by Stefan Larsson, larstefan@gmail.com

3D Virtual Tours By EveryScape - The Cure For The Common Virtual Tour

As we have written about in some of our previous postings, 3dwalkthroughs.com believes there will continue to be an explosion of applications and mash-ups designed to make Google Earth more interactive and detailed.

We recently came across a company called Everyscape that offers a unique twist on the common virtual tour. Immersed in a 3D environment users can tour an area and add their own content including: relevant links, personal reviews, rankings and more.

After a little research we uncovered that the company was previously Mok3 Inc., selling technology and services to resort hotels.

Their technology is a nice complement to Google Earth and they plan on virtually mapping cities throughout the world.

We believe the day is fast approaching that we can integrate our high resolution 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Renderings into Google Earth to effectively showcase properties that are not yet built.

We highly recommend checking out their technology.

(Mash-ups) Virtual Worlds + Social Networking + 3D Walkthroughs

An article in today's NY Times discusses some of the recently launched Mash-ups systems that are poised to hit the mainstream. Yahoo, I.B.M., Microsoft and others are creating systems to let ordinary people (non-programmers) create useful computer applications by combining, or “mashing up,” different online information sources.

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes that these mash-up systems will speed up the convergence of virtual world platforms and social networking platforms. We also believe that it will decrease the time for our 3D walkthroughs and Interactive 3D products from becoming an integral part of the forthcoming "realistic visual social networking platforms". We are looking forward to the day when a platform like "Second Life" looks as realistic as actual video, and has the same number of active participants as a MySpace of FaceBook.

NY TIMES
September 2, 2007
Novelties
Do the Mash (Even if You Don’t Know All the Steps)
By ANNE EISENBERG
POP music has its mash-ups that combine tunes and vocals from different songs. YouTube viewers do it, too, mixing together segments from various music videos.

Now mash-ups are poised to hit the mainstream, and to spread well beyond music. Yahoo, I.B.M., Microsoft and others are creating systems to let ordinary people who’ve never been near a Java class create useful computer applications by combining, or “mashing up,” different online information sources.

If the technology catches on, many of us may become part-time programmers, instead of waiting for the people in information technology to help.

Here’s just one example: An employee at a chain of hardware stores creates a mash-up that combines inventory data, storm forecasts and the telephone numbers of branch managers. Then, when snow is on the way, the application sends text messages to the managers’ cellphones, telling them how many shovels to order.

Devising that sort of mash-up, which handles multiple data sources to produce a customized solution, is typically the province of a professional. But the new systems are designed, their creators say, so people with modest technical skills can tailor applications to their needs — while writing little or no code.

For now, the technology is free, as its creators race to sign up customers, extend their franchises and perhaps someday dominate the field. Some of the new systems are aimed at businesses, others at consumers who want to entertain themselves by creating games or ornamenting a blog.

Yahoo’s mash-up tool, Pipes, was introduced in February; no separate software plug-ins are required to try the technology.

Imitating someone else’s program on Pipes is a good way to get started, said Jonathan Trevor of Yahoo, who is one of Pipes’ creators. For instance, a user could start by choosing a sample mash-up that combines apartment listings in a neighborhood with addresses of nearby day care centers, then change the neighborhood and services as needed. “Pipes can be a gradual introduction to Web programming,” he said. “You can start by tweaking someone else’s program and then branch out on your own.”

People can view thousands of mash-ups, created by Pipes users, that are displayed on the site. One program starts with messages people send one another when participating in Second Life, the virtual world. The messages are combined with a translation service, Babel Fish, and converted to the recipient’s language, for example, English.

Pipes is currently in a testing phase. “We’re evolving and changing as people tell us what they need,” Dr. Trevor said.

Another new mash-up system, Popfly from Microsoft, was released in a test form in April. John Montgomery, a program manager on the Microsoft team building Popfly, and one of its originators, said his goal from the start was to build an entirely Web-based tool that ran on a browser, and was easy to use. “We wanted to make the programs so simple,” he said, “that people could use them without writing a line of code.”

Popfly’s target audience is consumers, starting with the MySpace generation. “We want to give them a rich set of tools,” he said, so that they can embed their favorite mash-ups on their Web pages. In a typical application, Popfly mashes together the feed from Twitter, a messaging service, with a tool that resolves the location of the twitterer into latitude and longitude and plots the information on Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Then users can see exactly where their twittering friends are.

Popfly requires users to install extra software, called Silverlight, that creates striking, three-dimensional representations of the data that users drag and drop in a central area of the screen and combine to create mash-ups.

Mr. Montgomery said Popfly might eventually include advertising. “For now, though, it’s more about getting people to try the platform technology,” he said. People can sign up for invitations at www.popfly.com.

THE program from I.B.M., QEDWiki — the QED stands for quick and easily done — is aimed not at consumers, but at sales staff, accountants and others who need to mash up data from different sources to solve business problems.

Soon there will be a downloadable version of QEDWiki that companies can copy and use within their businesses, said Rod Smith, vice president for emerging Internet technologies at I.B.M.’s software group. For now, the program can be tried at http://services.alphaworks.ibm.com/qedwiki.

I.B.M. has posted a 10-minute tutorial on YouTube that takes viewers through QEDWiki.

People want to be able to write programs to exploit new business opportunities, he said. “Companies have lots of databases they want to make mashable,” he said, “and share with their business partners.”

3D Model of the Frost Bank Tower - Austin, Texas

The staff at 3Dwalkthroughs.com is on another business road trip and this time we are visiting Austin, Texas. In between our meetings we had the chance to walk around the "very cool", historic downtown area. One of the buildings that caught our eye, probably because it is the tallest building in the Austin skyline, is The Frost Bank Tower.

After doing a little research we found some interesting facts about the tower (see below). We also came across a 3D model of the tower from the Google Warehouse.

About The Frost Bank Tower

The Frost Bank Tower was developed by Cousins Properties of Texas. Building construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004. This 515 ft office building contains over 525,000 sq. ft. of leasable space. The lower floors of the structure are finished in limestone. The tower is finished in an energy efficient blue glass. This type of glass is only known to have been used on one other building, the Reuters Building at 3 Times Square in New York City. Interesting Facts: The crown of the tower contains more than an acre of glass. Per tradition, tin crosses were embedded in the concrete on every floor. Cousins Properties contends that at the time of its groundbreaking, "this was the tallest building in America to have started construction after the September 11th attacks". This 3D Model developed by BrightGIS. For more information, visit us on the web at http://www.BrightGIS.com

Property Marketing - Using music to evoke an emotional reaction to a property.

Let me first start out by saying that 3dwalkthroughs.com are the the first ones to discourage the use of music on the homepage of a website. In the past we have found it to be potentially annoying and outdated.

With that being said, there is an article in today's NY Times describing the use of music to market new condo's and other properties. According to the article the music helps to define the soul of the building, many times before the construction has started. After viewing some of the newer websites that use music as part of a well thought out presentation, we are softening our view on this topic.

If the music can be turned off and if it is not offensive, it definitely can create a strong impression on the type of culture to be expected in the building. This is very similar to when we use a certain demographic integrated throughout a 3D Walkthrough or 3D Rendering to focus the sales towards that group.

Selling a Concept With a Song
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM

Has your condo got a song in its heart?

It seems every new condominium these days has its own tune, meant to convey its soul to potential buyers. At 151 Wooster Street (151wooster.com) in SoHo, it is a jazz track featuring a lone trumpet. Vigorous strings evoke Vivaldi at the Cielo (cielocondos.com) on the Upper East Side. Electronic music heralds 166 Perry Street (166perryst.com) in the West Village.

Developers are forever adding bells and whistles to distinguish their properties from all the others on the market. And as Web sites are increasingly being used as teasers to drive buyers (especially out-of-state and international buyers) into sales offices, many developers are going beyond slick graphics and literally orchestrating the journey.

Reports about classical music being played in public spaces to decrease crime or ease anxiety, as well as widely publicized studies from Muzak about music’s ability to increase efficiency and make people feel better, have led some developers and marketers to think music will make buyers more relaxed and engaged at their Web sites.

More significantly, by commissioning or licensing (or illegally using) music for their Web sites and sales offices, developers say they are better able to convey the vibe of a particular building, especially when that building is yet to exist. Music is also seen as an effective way to announce a building’s intended demographic without ever saying a word.

“Certain types of people generally have an affinity for one type of music more than another,” said Shaun Osher, the chief executive of CORE Group Marketing, which has worked on a number of music-infused campaigns.

This, of course, raises questions about exactly who is invited, so to speak, by which developments.

The Rest of the Article Can Be Found Here>>

Another Step Towards Connecting The Real World With The Virtual Worlds

According to a blurb from Techtree.com, a website devoted to technology enthusiasts, discussions are underway to create an interface that will connect virtual worlds with the real world.

3Dwalkthroughs.com has been predicting this convergence ever since we began working in the 3D and Virtual World space.

Our vision...
1) 3Dwalkthroughs.com creates a full 3D Walkthrough of a property.
2) All Appliances would be rendered as virtual appliances.
3) Logging on to your 3D Home you can literally walkthrough the property and turn appliances on/off, turn on/view actual real world security cameras, check to see if there is mail in the real world mail box, check on your virtual and real world pets, etc.
4) Walk into the virtual bedroom, take a nap and actually feel more rested in the real world (OK maybe we are getting a little carried away. Forget this one for now.)

Here is the Blurb

Techtree News Staff
Aug 2, 2007


If reports are to be believed, IBM India is mulling a novel 'interface' that will help connect virtual worlds with the real world, and vice versa.

For instance, the 'interface' will help connect a Web cam to a virtual monitor, or an electric appliance to a virtual switch, according to IBM India.

Reportedly, the idea was conceived as part of a recently concluded internship program titled 'Extreme Blue', held over a period of 12 weeks especially for students of IBM India Software Labs. The program saw a participation of nearly 30 students, with one Benjamin Chodroff of Case Western Reserve University, USA, coming up with the novel concept.

Such an 'interface' would spell immense possibilities for virtual worlds like 'Second Life', Chodroff said. The 'interface' would allow users in 'Second Life' to experience real world objects through a new and exciting 'Rich Immersive Environment'.

'Second Life' is a wildly popular virtual world, wherein members interact with each other, trade in properties and services, et al, through animated proxies of themselves that are better known as 'avatars'.

Chodroff hopes his idea will be further developed and marketed with help from 'Big Blue' (read: IBM India).

Girls With Goals - Erin Hurry

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited to announced that our interactive division, Launchsight Solutions, has launched the beta version of Girlswithgoals.com.

Over the past year we have had the extreme pleasure of working with Erin Hurry, an entrepeneur in the truest sense of the word. (For non-entrepeneurs, this means she stayed focused and professional even through the inevitable bumps in the road). Her fierce determination, business experience, and foresight, make her the perfect role-model for the audience she is targetting.

Erin has masterminded what is sure to be a very successful concept with many future development plans already underway.

Girls with Goals is already set to be featured in many nation wide publications as well as a featured topic in an upcoming event along side some of the most famous woman in movies and television.

3Dwalkthroughs.com will be posting a once a month update on Girls with Goals, tracking the progress of the site and documenting any newsworthy developments.

About Girls With Goals

Girls with Goals is an online community and marketplace servicing women in business. Girls with Goals will be offering business tools to empower women to start or expand their business.

Girls with Goals wants to change the face of Ecommerce for women by providing informative content for a rapidly growing market of women in self owned business’s online and offline. Girls with Goals focus is to help women create a goal oriented business that helps them to achieve business success. Girls with Goals member's create a "G-Store" from a choice of templates and control their content, products and sales. Members have access to free workshops, G-Coaches, an online community, G-Cards,G-Business resource center, G-Fitness and G-Towns in their local community. Members are encouraged to succeed through goal oriented tools, contests and success advertisements on the web site.Girls with Goals will be adding enhancements to the members services in the fall of 2007 which will include store commercials, seminars as well as added store features.

Girls with Goals is the first online hybrid ecommerce community and how-to business resource specific to women. The company, established in 2002, has been created specifically to assist women in business. For more information about Girls with Goals, please visit www.GirlswithGoals.com, or contact company representatives at support@girlswithgoals.com.

About Founder:

Erin's career life includes a broad business and social skills background, as well as being a successful G-Coach and mentor at Girls with Goals, which she founded in 2002. As a G-coach, she helps to recreate people's lives into successes and uses her business skills to enlarge the goals of business ownership for her clients. Erin offers all this experience and knowledge to help stay at home moms, executives and individuals from all walks of life to become more successful in both their personal and business lives. Erin believes that everyone has a talent and that we should be living as a partner in that gift. As a G-COACH, Erin approaches the work on a cognitive-behavioral level. She believes that each one of us have to learn to live on a "conscious" level by using our very own unique talents and skills to suit our needs for living our best lives. Erin wants you to move forward in a life of conscious choices to a life full of happiness and goals realized. Erin helps her clients make the life they currently live into the life they were meant to live.

Does a Market Cool Down = A Marketing Cool Down

With the rapid cool down in the real estate market across the country, only time will tell how brokers and developers respond in terms of their marketing efforts.

Some schools of thought believe in putting more money into innovative marketing tools in an effort to sell their vacant properties while others will pull back their marketing efforts.

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes that the former school of thought will prevail, however brokers and builders will seek marketing tools that are the most effective vs. ones that just "Look Cool".

We also believe that the price a broker or developer is willing to pay for their marketing tools will be much more proportionate to the price of the property for sale. With that being said, sometimes the statement "You get what you pay for" holds water and therefore a more effective marketing solution might cost a little more but it might be worth it.

When we develop our products such as 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and our new Interactive 3D Floor Plans/Walkthroughs we constantly step back and re-evaluate it's effectiveness in terms of marketing a property. Often times we make changes from our original concepts as things that seem like good ideas at first are not always the most effective in terms of selling a property...only time will tell how the market will respond to this industry cool down.

Design Teams Hired in Nassau Coliseum Project

Two friends of 3DWalkthroughs.com have announced that they will be working together on the Nassau Coliseum Redevelopment Project (The Lighthouse Project). RexCorp Realty (Scott Rechler) officially hired the Spector Group (Marc Spector) as one of two master planning/architect firms that will be spearheading the project.

The mixed use development project will include: an 18,000-seat arena for sporting events and concerts, housing, office space, retail stores, a hotel and a complete restoration and renovation of the Nassau Coliseum.

3DWalkthroughs.com will be closely following the progress of the Lighthouse Project as it is one of the largest and most ambitious development projects to ever happen in Long Island...not to mention two of our best friends are involved.

Below is a blurb from Sunday's NY Times describing the partnership.

NYTIMES

In the Region
Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey
Go to Complete Coverage » The Nassau Coliseum redevelopment plan advanced another step when the project’s partners chose a master planning team of two architecture and planning firms, the Development Design Group of Baltimore and the Spector Group of North Hills.

The two companies will design a $2 billion suburban center on 77 acres of county-owned property. It is scheduled to include an 18,000-seat arena for sporting events and concerts as well as housing, office space, retail stores, a hotel and a complete restoration and renovation of the Nassau Coliseum. The project’s partners — Lighthouse Development Group, a joint venture between Charles B. Wang, owner of the New York Islanders and founder of Computer Associates, and Scott H. Rechler, chairman of RexCorp Realty — announced the hiring of the planning team on July 20.

The Development Design Group is known for malls and mixed-use developments throughout the country. The Spector Group’s projects include RexCorp Plaza in Uniondale, Jericho Plaza and the Islandia headquarters of Computer Associates. The company will provide local expertise for the project’s planning and design, said Marc B. Spector, one of the company’s principals.

Mr. Rechler, Long Island’s largest developer of commercial real estate, said, “We were looking for a team who would want to stick with the character of Long Island, but at the same time provide Long Island with what it doesn’t have.”

The Lighthouse Project is expected to create 16,000 construction jobs, as well as thousands of permanent jobs and many new businesses, and to generate almost $60 million of annual real estate tax revenue, Mr. Rechler said.

Papers Losing Realty Ads to Online

An interesting article in the Economic Times exposes the migration of real estate shoppers from newspapers to the internet. With the amount of innovative applications available online focused on providing the most intimate details of a property it is no wonder the internet is eclipsing a static newspaper as a way of shopping for real estate.

3Dwalkthroughs.com believes that newspapers will have to focus heavily on creating an online presence that works synergistically with their print format if they are going to make a comeback. Tools such as 3D Walkthroughs and Interactive Floor Plans will obviously not work in a newspaper, but the newspaper can be used to highlight a property that contains these marketing tools on a listing.


28 Jul, 2007, 1058 hrs IST, AGENCIES

NEW YORK: It's bad enough that a cratering housing market is leading to a slump in real estate advertising at newspapers, as a dreary series of earnings reports showed this week.

What's worse is that a lot of that advertising may never come back to newspapers even if the real estate sector recovers. That's because a significant chunk of those advertising dollars are moving — you guessed, online.

Exactly how much of a shift is occurring is difficult to measure in terms of dollars or market share, but several real estate executives say they are making a conscious decision to move money out of newspapers and onto the Internet as that medium grows in importance as a tool for researching home-buying decisions.

Granted, a significant amount of the declines in real estate advertising in newspapers can be attributed to the general weakness in real estate markets, particularly in hard-hit markets such as California and Florida, which were booming a year ago — leading to big gains in advertising back then.

This week Tribune Co, the No. 2 publisher by circulation, posted a 24 percent drop in the second quarter, while industry leader Gannett Co has reported a 9.9 per cent decline and McClatchy Co reported a 19 per cent decline, citing big losses in California and Florida.

Like the housing market itself, much of the up-and-down movement in newspaper real estate advertising can be viewed as cyclical, meaning it will be weak in down markets and bounce back in the upward part of the cycle, whenever that comes up.


But what's worrying analysts this time around is that real estate could become the next category of classified advertising — after help-wanted ads — to mark a significant and permanent shift away onto the Internet. The stakes are big for newspapers since classifieds are highly lucrative and make up more than 35 per cent of their revenues.

Mike Simonton, the top media industry analyst at the Fitch Ratings credit analysis service, says that currently a good 30 per cent of help-wanted classified advertising is now online, while the Internet's share of real estate and auto classified advertising is lower, at about 15 to 20 per cent, but poised to move higher.

"The threats from the Internet are real," Simonton said. "Newspaper advertising should remain under pressure until newspapers are better able to address the threat of online advertising."

Representatives of several major real estate franchisors said in interviews that many home sellers still see newspaper advertising as an essential component of selling a home, but that younger brokers, home sellers and buyers are clearly more focused on using the Internet.

"For our agents, newspapers are an old standby," said Abby Lee, director of regional advertising in Denver for RE/MAX, a major real estate franchisor. "With younger agents, there's a trend of going online. There's a realization that's where they need to be."

Suzy Antal, director of marketing, communications and public relations for Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, a unit of Prudential Financial Inc., said many Prudential agents have been pulling back on advertising during the current downturn, but as they return, they're shifting ad budgets to their own Web sites, creating blogs, and taking different approaches beyond newspapers.


"Is newspaper a high priority? No," Antal said. "I don't believe my buyers and sellers are going to be in that market."

Newspaper publishers understand they need to move more aggressively to hold on to real estate advertising. "We can't sit on our hands," says Charlie Diederich, the director of marketing and advertising at the Newspaper Association of America, an industry group.

Diederich said newspapers are still a key part of most people's real estate searches and an important tool for realtors to make people aware of their brands. But he also acknowledged that newspapers need to do more to make their own Web sites essential to home buying decisions.

"We've got to improve both our print but especially our online products ... so consumers will continue to come to us first so we can deliver that audience to the professional realtor," Diederich said.

A group of five major newspaper publishers also owns Classified Ventures, a Chicago-based business that powers the real estate sections of the Web sites of its 125 member newspapers.

Tim Fagan, president of that group's real estate division, said Classified Ventures would "significantly increase" its investment in Homescape, a real estate-related Web site that provides home listings, but he declined to provide specific numbers.

Whether those efforts will be enough to stanch the flow of real estate ad dollars to online alternatives remains to be seen.

Blanche Evans, the editor of Realty Times, an online real estate news service, says that realtors now have a number of alternatives besides newspapers for listing homes for sale, such as Realtor.org, a site run by the National Association of Realtors, in addition to major online destinations such as Yahoo Inc.

As home-buyers flock online, it's also tough on realtors, Evans said, since home-buyers are becoming accustomed to seeing extensive color photos, descriptions of the neighborhood as well as video tours of the property — all of which costs money to produce.

With all the online tools available today, realtors "have the ability now to really expose the property in a significant way," Evans said. "People have the ability to tour the house. That has changed everything."

Realtor.com Mobile - Using Cell Phones and PDA’s To Find Homes

An article in RISMEDIA details the launch of Realtor.com Mobile, a free application that will give both consumers and realtors the ability to search for real esate listing from a cell phone or PDA.

Realtor.com mobile has some cool features including the ability to have a picture and the details of a property sent directly to a mobile device if there is a for sale sign on the property. The properties can also be saved in a favorite folder on
the mobile device to be reviewed at a latter date.

3Dwalkthroughs.com is confident that Realtor.com Mobile will expand its offerings as the technology improves across all mobile platforms. The increased capabilities will surely include sending video, 3D Floor Plans and other more immersive media.

Please enjoy the article from RISMEDIA below.

RISMEDIA, July 30, 2007—Realtor.com just launched the next generation real estate search technology, Realtor.com Mobile. According to Realtor.com, with a free and easy downloadable application, consumers and RealtorsR can now perform searches for real-estate listings from their cell phone or PDA anytime, anywhere.

To begin using Realtor.com Mobile, house hunters take their Windows
Mobile enabled cell phone or PDA, go to [1] http://Mobile.Realtor.com, download and install the application and begin their search.

“We developed Realtor.com Mobile because more people are using hand held devices to access information on the road,” said Realtor.com Senior Vice President, Product Development, Joe DeTuno. “Through this new mobile technology, consumers now have current listings with property details at their finger tips whenever they want it.”

Instead of cruising neighborhoods or searching ads, consumers can now use Realtor.com Mobile to search for homes using criteria including city, state or zip codes, price range, as well as number of bedrooms and bathrooms. If a prospective home looks interesting and is close by, a simple touch of the “Contact Details” feature connects the house hunter with the listing agent or broker.

“One of the more exciting elements of Realtor.com Mobile is the ‘Homes Near By’ feature,” said Realtor.com President, Errol Samuelson. “If you’re walking or driving through a neighborhood and see a ‘For Sale’ sign, one click of a button delivers a photo with all of the property details right to you. With another quick click, you’re connected with the listing agent or broker. There’s no waiting or wondering because you have instant results. We think the mobility, immediacy and convenience of Realtor.com Mobile will revolutionize the way people search for homes.”

Similar to the Web site interface, Realtor.com Mobile features a user-friendly Home Page with several new search and save options. The Homes Near By search feature expands this locator function by searching for listings that meet the selection criteria within a 10-mile range. The Find a Home search option lets you search listings in a particular city/state combination or zip code, with an additional filter allowing for specifications such as number of beds, number of baths and price range.

Favorite listings can be stored in a Saved Items search folders for future reference and comparison. To use the Homes Near By feature, consumers need to be equipped with a GPS-enabled mobile device that runs Window Mobile OS.

To help find and view homes or neighborhoods, Realtor.com Mobile also offers maps and driving directions to each home for sale in the area. Through this feature, house hunters can view the home on a map, get driving directions and plot the most convenient route for multiple homes, creating their own home tour. This feature allows house hunters to save information and access it online or offline. In addition, consumers can save the most commonly used addresses such as home and office, as well as the most commonly viewed listings, to avoid retyping or remembering previous searches.

Realtor.com Mobile can be used with devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 OS,
including HP hw6965, HP hw6925, Palm Treo 700w (or Palm Treo 700wx), AT&T
8525 , Cingular 8125, O2 Xda Stealth and Audiovox XV6700.

We choose Door 3!!

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited to announce that our interactive services divison, Launchsight Solutions, has joining forces with Door3.

Over the past several years, Launchsight Solutions has grown our client base significantly, and in doing so we have also focused on the development of new software products and services. In an effort to continue this growth and and business model diversification while maintaining our current level of service and responsiveness to our new and existing web site clients, we have actively explored a partnership with a firm that exhibits the same commitment to quality and excellence as we do. We have found that company...

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited to announce that our interactive services divison, Launchsight Solutions, has joining forces with Door3.

With a focus on business application development, usability, and design, Door3 bring a team of 15 qualified Web professionals to the table to help support our existing and future clients. Founded in 2002 by Peter Neufeld and Alex Asianov, Door3 has provided services to companies of all sizes including: Fresh Direct, CBS, First Fidelity Mortgage Group, Crown Holdings, Studley and many more.

In addition to helping Launchsight Solutions expand its interactive services capabilities, Door3 will also lend their expertise in usability design to help us refine the 3Dwalkthroughs.com website. With a sleu of properietary products focused on the mortgage and mobile communications industry, Door3 will also be heavily involved in new product development and marketing for 3Dwalkthroughs.com.

If you have any questions regarding this exciting new partnership please feel free to comment.

Builder Homesite Delivers Comprehensive New Home Listings on Yahoo! Real Estate

Yahoo! Real Estate is teaming up with NewHomeSource.com to provide consumers the ability to access the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive new homes data available online.

Communities listed on NewHomeSource.com will automatically be displayed in the featured listings placements on Yahoo! Real Estate.

Funded and endorsed by a consortium of the top U.S. homebuilders, NewHomeSource.com brings consumers the combined expertise of the nation's top builders in one intuitive website.

3Dwalkthroughs.com is excited about the opportunity to deliver our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Floor Plans and 3D Renderings to the members/visitors of the new NewHomeSource.com website.

Sharing Live Video by Cell Phone (New Property Marketing Tool?)

An article in today's Newsday describes a new service launched by AT&T that will provide the ability to Share Video on cell phones.

The technology which can send live video from one cell to another is just the beginning of what 3Dwalkthroughs.com believes to be a huge emerging market. The small amount of compatable phones coupled with some minor flaws in the technology will surely be overcome and many new applications will be launched as a result.

The article mentions this technology will marketed to real estate professionals as a new business tool. We are certainly looking forward to the day when our 3D Walkthroughs, 3D Renderings and 3D Floor Plans can be sent to a phone as simply as sending a text message.

By GREG BLUESTEIN
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA -- My cell phone flickered to life in the middle of a rowdy party, and seconds later, my fiancee's face brightened up the screen. "Sorry I couldn't make it," she said. "I wish I was there."

She wasn't physically at the party, but her presence -- or at least her agony at being stuck in the office -- was felt, thanks to AT&T Inc.'s new Video Share service. As I panned my phone around the table, I saw how this technology can come in handy.

The service, which AT&T claims is the first to pipe live video from one cell phone to another, worked well. Still, you can't quite call it a "video phone" because Video Share is only a one-way link, meaning one party can see the other but not vice versa at the same time.

AT&T started offering Video Share this week to most of its 160 markets where it has third-generation wireless service. It only works on four phone models so far -- iPhone users need not apply -- and only when the phones are within range of the company's 3G network.

The phones cost anywhere from $25 to $130 (with rebates), and the service runs about 35 cents a minute. Two plans offer cheaper options -- one with 25 minutes for $4.99 a month and another with 60 minutes for $9.99 a month. The company says most subscribers use it for one or two minutes at a time.

It's fairly simple to use. Once a call between two Video Share-capable phones is connected, a prompt appears if both are in AT&T's 3G network. The caller who decides to initiate the connection controls the video camera, and both phones instantly snap into speaker mode.

The company sees great potential. Aside from the obvious uses for doting parents, it will also be marketed to real estate agents and insurance adjusters as a new business tool. And, as AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson hinted at a telecom trade show, the service could be expanded to PC and TV screens.

But first some kinks need to be worked out. We were using the Samsung A717, a snazzy flip-phone that easily fit into my pocket and got lost in my fiancee's purse. But the phone's speaker was nearly impossible to hear in a noisy or crowded setting.

We also found it was sometimes frustratingly difficult to stay connected. Even when both phones were receiving strong signals, the video link occasionally dropped out with little warning, particularly when one of the callers was indoors.

The video reception also can be halting or pixelated, like streaming a Web video on a less than blazing Internet connection.

The camera's range can be perplexing, too. One night, some friends thought it would be funny to show my fiancee a racy billboard while we were playing trivia at a local bar. She could see the lit-up billboard clearly even though it was 25 feet away (she didn't think it was so funny) but she said she could hardly see the more dimly lit table of friends within an arm's length of my phone.

Despite the pitfalls, I found plenty of uses for Video Share during the five days I experimented with it.

I was able to show a colleague stuck in the office the happy scenes from Atlanta's Centennial Park, flash video of traffic-choked streets to my fiancee and watch a glimpse of a TV show from a roommate fooling around with the phone at home.

If this is the prelude to the video phone, I'm eager to see what cell phone providers have in store for us next. Whatever it is, though, I hope it includes a decent light for dimly lit close-ups.

Wynn Hotel - An Unbelievable Attention To Detail

As per yesterday's post, the 3dwalkthroughs.com staff has travelled to Las Vegas to promote our new 3D Walkthrough, 3D Floor Plan and Interactive Floor Plan products.

For this stay in Las Vegas we decided to book our rooms at the Wynn Hotel. An in-room magazine described their never ending goal to improve on every fine detail of decor, experience and amenities available for vistors of the hotel. The magazine describes the magnitude of changes that are made literally over night in an effort to achieve this goal.

On our way to checking out of the hotel this morning we were disoriented as the entire floor of the lobby has changed from carpet to marble...literally over night. We were also amazed watching a hotel employee laying face down carefully placing colored tiles into a new decorative mosaic walkway.

In todays day and age it is inspiring to see a company that actually meets/exceeds its promises. It is also a good lesson on how to run a business.

An Explosion of Property Development in Las Vegas

A few of the staff members of 3DWalkthroughs.com have taken a business road trip to Las Vegas. In between our scheduled meetings we have been walking the strip taking in the sights and sounds of "Sin City".

We are amazed at the amount of new construction that is underway, both on and off the strip. It seems like everywhere we looked there was a construction crane and signs for new coming condos, casinos and golf resorts.

After returning back to my computer I reviewed the websites of some of these developments. It is an interesting phenomenon that the quality of the website really does have a profound effect on the interest level that can be generated in potential buyers/visitors. The websites that utilized 3D Renderings and 3D Walkthroughs were particularly effective in creating an emotional reaction and left me wanting to know more about the end product.

Single Property Websites - Marketing Real Estate in a Slumping Economy

3Dwalkthroughs.com is constantly researching the most cutting edge and effective ways of marketing real estate properties. Over the last few years we have witnessed an explosion in the use of Single Property Websites as an effective tool to help both the real estate agent as well as the property itself to stand out from the crowd.

Single property websites can offer a large amount of information about a property including: photos, videos, virtual tours, text, documents and more. Realtors benefit because they are an easy, affordable way to get more exposure online where 8 out of 10 buyers are searching.

We are just starting to see a few single property website companies offering 3D Walkthroughs and 3D Floor Plans as part of their allowable data. We believe it is just a matter of time before our products become an integral part of all single property page website.