Why Matterport?

Quick Read

November 2015 marked our first steps with Matterport in Germany, importing the Pro1 camera for VR productions. Today, Matterport has evolved into much more: a comprehensive digital twin platform that transforms property documentation and management. In this article, we explore seven core benefits that make Matterport essential:

Perfect preservation of spaces and memories
Comprehensive content generation from a single capture
Unmatched 3D tour experience
Continuous automatic updates
Enterprise-grade hosting solutions
Advanced productivity and collaboration tools
Significant lifecycle cost savings

How I Came to Matterport
Seven Core Benefits

How I Came to Matterport

In November 2015, I was likely the first German Matterport customer to import the Pro1 camera from the USA to Berlin. My initial motivation was the ability to efficiently digitize locations for virtual reality productions.

Like many others, I was blown away by my first experiences with the Oculus VR Development Kit 2 in 2014. The potential was so compelling that I decided to become an entrepreneur in this area. So I founded MESH IMAGES BERLIN in summer 2015 - with the original focus as a VR production studio. At that time, reality-based VR content was not easy to produce and 360-degree cameras didn't exist.

3DTour: The first test scan from November 15, 2015 in our co-working space in Berlin-Neukölln

This capture was my first Matterport 3D Tour captured in November 2015 and I have to say: from today's perspective, there are completely different factors that excite me about this tour than back then.

And that brings us right to the heart of the matter.

Seven Core Benefits of Matterport

1. Reliving Memories with Matterport

Key Benefit: Perfect digital preservation of spaces and memories, providing an immersive way to revisit locations exactly as they were captured.

Sure, at first it feels, to put it bluntly, "totally crazy" to be able to re-enter this location or this memory again today. Because that's exactly what it looked like back then - pretty messy - and as you can see, the design was way ahead of its time and even then they consistently used sustainable materials.

2. The Content Machine for All Assets

Key Benefit: Single capture generates multiple assets - from virtual tours to marketing materials, all from one efficient scanning session.

Of course, the Matterport camera fulfilled my original expectations, because I was able to download all photos after taking the shot and also had immediate access to this 3D file (from the 3D view) for further VR productions.

But nobody was interested in the VR productions anymore. All conversation partners were blown away by the fact that, in addition to the great virtual tour, there was also the option to download snapshots and order a floor plan.

Matterport =3D tour + photos + floor plan + 3D scan data.

This equation still applies. Today, there are many more assets available from a Matterport 3D tour (paid), but more on that shortly.

3. The 3D Tour Experience

Key Benefit: Unmatched realism through combined high-resolution imagery and 3D data, creating truly immersive spatial experiences.

The incomparably realistic feel comes from Matterport's unique solution combining 3D scan data with high-resolution 360° photos; back then only with 32 megapixels, today with high-resolution 134 megapixels per panorama.

It's also due to the unique 3D view and dynamic 3D tour player, which gives you a comprehensive understanding of spatial relationships at first glance - even years later. No other floor plan or photo collection can achieve this at this speed.

And you know what makes me particularly happy: this first tour from 2015 is now also available as a VR production, which leads us wonderfully into the updates.

4. Automatic Updates

Key Benefit: Future-proof investment through continuous platform updates and automatic feature additions to all existing content.

This 3D tour has remained largely unchanged since the capture in November 2015. The scan data and my edits are still the same 3D tour as it was many years ago. I haven't changed anything.

But if you look closely, you will notice many new additional features that were not available back then, e.g.:

The measuring function in the ruler icon
The VR Option
The share icon
The magnifying glass at the top left is new

Tour movements (transitions) have also become smoother and better today than they were back then.

These updates and other new features were automatically included in the Matterport hosting. Not a single minute of additional effort was required to install and activate the new features shown here.

Matterport Timeline based on Hopscotch Interactive

Illustration "The Matterport Timeline" - based on an idea by Hopscotch Interactive

5. Matterport Hosting - The Nice Lock-In

Key Benefit: Enterprise-grade hosting solution with standardized archiving and guaranteed long-term accessibility.

Hosting with Matterport is not cheap. Annual fees often start in the 3-digit range and are quickly in the 4-digit range for projects with multiple tours and then eventually in the 5-digit range for your company. But in return you get automatic updates and a lot more. It is important to remember that Matterport offers an archiving system that works in a standardized way, meaning that it can continue to be understood regardless of the fate of individual people or institutions and can be used to continue working at a later date.

Matterport Cloud - Asset Management - Snapshot Download

Image: Matterport Cloud - Asset Management - Download of the snapshot from 20.11.2015 with dimensions in inches

The cloud connection and the standardization and, of course, this lock-in, where you can't just take everything with you, change everything or individualize everything; in my opinion, these characteristics can also be seen as strengths of the system - at least from an institutional perspective.

6. More Productivity - Communication Tools and Integrations

Key Benefit: Comprehensive toolkit for team collaboration, data management, and seamless third-party integrations.

A look at the Matterport timeline also reveals another important development. Matterport has long since moved beyond simply capturing locations and making them available as virtual tours. Rather, Matterport is more concerned with how users:

Can manage the data
Share data with team members
Work together better with simple communication tools
Use the data via plugins and integrations

Key Features Include:

Matterport Tags (Mattertags) - Interactive touchpoints for features and details, containing text, audio, video, web content or files.

Views and Layers - Different versions for user groups or thematically grouped features.

Notes - Chat-like functionality for team communication and task management.

Sharing Options - From simple links to secure corporate embedding.

Enterprise Integrations - Including Autodesk Construction Cloud, Revit plugin, BIM 360, and AWS IoT TwinMaker.

7. Matterport Digital Twins - Cost Efficiency

Key Benefit: Significant cost savings across the entire property lifecycle through efficient documentation and collaboration.

Matterport Digital Twins are the first simple step towards greater efficiency and effectiveness in your business processes – across all phases of your project life cycle.

Matterport Effekt - Kostensenkung im Immobilien Lebenszyklus

Figure: Cost progression in the real estate (project) life cycle

By using Matterport across all phases of the property life cycle, significant savings in planning, construction and operating costs can be achieved. Matterport is quick, easy, understandable and perfectly documented throughout.

I therefore recommend consistently using Matterport throughout all phases of your real estate project. While high-precision scanning still requires specialized equipment, Matterport provides excellent visual reference and reliable backup, typically paying for itself many times over.

Learn more about Matterport in the real estate lifecycle in our upcoming blog posts. Want to know more today?

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