Changes between the past years
We have observed over time how swiftly technology has changed and how quickly people have adapted to these changes.
In order to reach a wider audience and increase market share, many organizations today have transferred their operations online, either remotely or through sales/market.
2020 showed us the value of online collaboration and how to quickly communicate with millions of people via messaging and virtual call systems.
This year, Facebook announced the new era of the Metaverse and its official name change to Metaverse.
According to Wikipedia “Metaverse is a hypothesized iteration of the internet, supporting persistent online 3-D virtual environments through conventional personal computing, as well as virtual and augmented reality headsets.” In a nutshell, Metaverse is a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore ideas from the internet, augmented reality, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and other technologies.
Why not Solacely
House hunting can be an overwhelming and intolerable chore globally. To find an apartment in Nigeria, however, requires going from one apartment to another, which may be difficult and expensive, to say the least.
On average, house hunters spend $15 per house visited for as many houses as they can (depending on how desperate they are), only to see the flat in the worst condition or in the worst environment.
Even after all these years, this procedure is still dated. You might occasionally not find what you’re seeking and or better still give up.
You can read more here. Many experiences result in kidnapping and a lot of other problems.
Why Solacely
Before Akinrodolu and Ibraheem built what’s called Solacely today, we were just two (2) individuals in the product management group called PIP (people in the product). Our first encounter was via call. He said, “Chief, how can I get an apartment in Abuja, what is the budget like, I had to explain everything on how housing options work here in Abuja and the stress that may come with it”.
The challenge of changing or moving from one location to another, or even changing apartments within Lagos, is one that many people, especially cooperative workers, encounter. A few weeks later, we got together to develop a solution for the use case; after realizing this, we did some research to validate our idea and contacted new members Khadijah and Maryam to join the team in order to benefit from their experience and viewpoint on the issue.
And this was the birth of our friendship and Solacely.
We chose to put users at the center of our problem-solving strategy by letting users “Let users see first hand what they want to rent, buy leveraging VR and AR technology” scroll through various options from anywhere in the world, and use any device of choice. We believe that images are insufficient to influence decision-making because a lot of filters and editing would have been done to alter their originality.
How:
Although it will be a new experience for us and the implementation may be challenging, the VR/AR technology will be integrated into the solution to provide users a precise view of what is in the apartment and prevent situations where what they wanted and what they experienced. Users might use this implementation to find their ideal home, pay the rent, and meet with the real estate agent or property owner to get the apartment’s keys.
Why:
Even after Facebook announced the new era of the metaverse a lot of things have been added into a prospect to the world of Virtual reality and it would change and enhance how we view technology hence, now is the best time to use it in solving a pain problem in Africa.
This is a challenge we have all experienced in one way or another other looking for an apartment, moving to a different state or country, in search of a roommate, and even co-working space.
What:
We are developing a web application and mobile app that will enable users to look for apartments and co-working spaces nearby and far away while viewing every inch of the apartment using our VR & AR application, in keeping with the African proverb that “seeing is believing.”
A new era of VR and AR space will transform the way we search for apartments depending on our budget, region, and nation in the most attractive arrangement and proportion.
We are very much excited about this journey and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store.
