Computer Vision and the Future of Real Estate

Introduction

As the pandemic continues to impact the lives of millions of people around the world, many have started using innovative technologies in multiple dimensions. The world is now experiencing an explosion of digital video and image content. For example, Twitch’s video streaming service hosted 2 billion hours of live video content in June 2021. However, considering that many insights can be attained from this vast pool of data, it will be impractical to use human resources to review all this content to extract valuable insights. Computer vision is a disruptive technology that is increasingly being adopted in many industries such as media and entertainment, advertising, e-commerce, retail, financial services, automotive industry, manufacturing, gaming, and real estate. Using simple cameras and smart artificial intelligence assisted software, computers can now recognize multiple objects and their properties from digital images and even live video streams. This blog by the Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies will delve into the concept of computer vision and how it can be a game-changer for the real estate sector.

Computer Vision and Its Uses

Computer vision is a branch of emerging technologies that enable computers to see, identify, and process images like how a human does. The main objective is for the computer to recognize different objects in images and videos for a deeper analysis. The technology is closely linked with artificial intelligence as a software model is trained on existing images for recognition patterns. The goal of the whole exercise is not to only recognize andobjects; rather, it is to provide useful results based on specific observations made in each industry. For example, computer vision has led to breakthrough innovations in driverless cars. Cameras on the vehicle are used to recognize objects in the environment, and a computer program then decides on the best course of action. Although the application of the technology is limited in the automotive sector due to it being in the development stage and issues related to regulation, other sectors such as the real estate industry can benefit from computer vision in real-time.

Artificial Intelligence enables computers to see and recognize objects like a human does, only a million times faster. In the real estate sector, millions of images and videos are generated every day worldwide to provide listings of properties, inspections, appraisals, and regulatory purposes. All this data is critical as it enables people to buy, sell, and invest in real estate remotely and digitally. However, if a human were tasked with finding insights on a company’s listings for the past 5 years, the process would require significant time and resources, albeit not close to reliability. There is also data attached to a digital image or video in metadata, which can be used for unique insights. Considering the speed and accuracy with which computers can operate, the technology opens new opportunities for real estate businesses to make their processes faster, efficient, reliable, and smooth.

Benefits of Leveraging Computer Vision

The ability to analyse millions of images and videos in a few seconds can bring many benefits to the real estate sector. Besides the speed and accuracy at which computers are able to recognize objects in digital media, they are also able to detect patterns and integrate data from other fields to bring a more holistic analysis. The first benefit of leveraging computer vision in the real estate sector is the effective time saving to businesses. If a business decides to analyze its database of images and videos for the past five years, it will require a large amount of human resources, financial resources, and the time it would take. Therefore, using computer vision, a real estate company can provide valuable services to its clients with effective time and cost savings. Then comes the issue of scalability. Using computer vision, not only can a real estate company analyze and innovate using its past data, but it can also use the ongoing editions of images and videos in its database to scale its operations and deliver a more significant number of services such as property verification, appraisals, and valuations online. This will, in return, offer clients a better and improved customer experience and will lead to the generation of future revenue streams that can leverage the capability of computer vision.

Conclusion

The world is fast evolving in the use of data and computer resources. Technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning make computers smart enough to recognize objects and patterns in digital images and videos. The concept is known as computer vision, and it has applications in many industries, including the real estate sector. The main benefits of using computer vision can be summed up in time savings, cost savings, scalability, improved customer experience, and the generation of new revenue fields. Therefore, it becomes exciting to understand how technology will impact the real estate sector. Stay tuned to find out how computer vision will change the real estate sector of Pakistan.