Real estate and apartment management portal CommonFloor has introduced CommonFloor Retina, a virtual reality initiative to let users view listed real estate in 3D. The platform currently supports Android phones LG Nexus 4 and above, MotoG 2nd gen, Samsung Galaxy 4 and above, MotoX and the Xiaomi Mi3. To use the platform, users have to make sure they have one of the aforementioned phones and download at least one of the CommonFloor Retina apps. Strangely, the company has chosen to release each property as a standalone app, which is tedious if you want to browse multiple properties. A better approach would be to have a single app download ‘building plans’ as and when requested by the user. As for the viewing part, other than the phone and app, users will also need a virtual reality headset - a picture of which is displayed on CommonFLoor without any mention of how to acquire one. The website does encourage users to register to win a virtual reality headset though. Interestingly the headset CommonFloor displays is almost exactly the same as Google Cardboard, the difference being only the name printed on it. Note though that Google does encourage companies creating these, and even provides DIY instructions for users to create one at home. While the initiative by CommonFloor is interesting, it fails at a few basic things. It provides no instructions or links for users to create a headset themselves or buy one. Additionally, no one wanting to browse properties to buy is…
