Matterport & Archilogic - a comparison between two powerful platforms

More than just 3D 

We’re regularly asked how Archilogic compares with Matterport. In a nutshell, we solve a different kind of problem. There’s certainly some conceptual overlap in our approach to understanding space, and we’re excited whenever they release something new, but the two platforms are fundamentally different tools. While Matterport is all about visualization, Archilogic makes building information a first class citizen. Visual representation isn’t the goal – it’s a byproduct.

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Not just spatial data, but rich information 

Yes, like Archilogic, Matterport allows you to create detailed visual representations of space – from dollhouse views to guided tours. But these representations are generated in a completely different way, and for a different purpose. Matterport uses compatible cameras (including iPhone) to capture HDR panoramic imagery and depth data, which is then submitted online for processing. Users can modify and customize the walkthrough experience, share, and integrate with websites and applications. Essentially, the spatial data is digitized directly from the real world, and it requires physical presence to start the process, even though it can then be experienced remotely. 

Meanwhile, Archilogic mines the information latent within a blueprint to generate digital representations that make it easy for real estate professionals to solve meaningful problems and deliver powerful experiences. Sure, a virtual tour is a valuable sales tool, and that’s one of the benefits of our software. But with full access to details about the building’s furniture, equipment and design assets, as well as structural elements, our interactive 3D models can do so much more. 

When is reality capture not enough?

Matterport is great when you need a highly accurate visual representation of your space. This makes sense for use cases such as:

• offering stays and experiences at hotels, resorts, restaurants, and event spaces;
• selling and leasing commercial or residential real estate; or
• creating a ground truth record of space during construction.
  

The nuanced visual detail of the space is what delivers the most value in these cases, so a reality capture-based solution makes sense.

But we’ve seen that as much as 80 percent of the time, nuanced visual detail is not what delivers the most value. Here are the main reasons Matterport doesn’t work for most of the clients we interact with.

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You need access to the space.

Distributed real estate teams don’t always have resources on the ground, and tenants often have privacy and security requirements that preclude landlords from photographing or recording the space.

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The space must already be built.

Capturing images of an unfinished space can’t convey what the space will be in the future.  Matterport can’t deliver an experience of the space until it is finished, decorated, and photographed. This means you won’t be able to use your Matterport scan for presales or advanced booking – and it presumes that the design of the space is predetermined. That closes off the sense of possibility that is so interesting to commercial real estate tenants, and is of little help in the actual design process. Matterport offers no ability to visualize a space conceptually, or to iterate on a design and understand the impact of those decisions.

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It takes a lot of work to keep in sync.

Some types of space rarely change once they’re finished. Others – flexible office space, for example – are regularly being reconfigured. In order to keep a Matterport scan up to date, people, processes, and technology must be put in place to ensure those changes are recorded. These resources are often expensive, and changes can take a long time to show up online.

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It’s not scalable.

Capturing one space might make sense, but what about 1,000 spaces across 20 cities at various stages of development? This might make sense for large hotel operators whose assets don’t change often, and who have total control over design and development. But most commercial property portfolios are in a constant state of flux. Optimizing occupancy requires you to convey the potential use of space quickly and accurately without having to visit every site.

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It’s just not always the right solution.

Do I need a picture-perfect sense of the wall finishings to create a wayfinding experience that shows how to get from a desk to the nearest bathroom? Most problems that require knowledge about the building need a useful abstraction of certain pieces of information – the spatial hierarchy, the objects found within the space, and the metadata related to those objects.  Starting with spatial data and backing into building information is putting the cart before the horse, and forces every problem to be seen as a visualization problem.

Why choose Archilogic?

Our building information platform provides useful abstractions of space that side-step many of the issues people encounter with Matterport. Here’s what makes Archilogic a more broadly applicable solution that caters to the other 80 percent.

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You only need a floor plan to start.

There’s no requirement to be physically present in a space to generate its digital representation, and no special equipment is needed. Archilogic can take a simple drawing of the space in an image or PDF format and in 24 hours return a fully functional model that can be viewed in 2D and 3D and be integrated into websites and applications according to your needs.

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Unfinished space? No problem.

Archilogic’s modeling process isn’t dependent upon existing conditions. You can create unlimited revisions of spaces using our Editor and automate the furniture layout process with our Furnishing AI. Your Archilogic model will be immediately relevant for stakeholders across the lifecycle of the building, whether for test fitting during due diligence, design collaboration for architecture and interior design, or generating custom space configurations for potential customers. 

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Modifications are quick and easy.

Updating the details of a space  – whether structural or finishings – can be done online in our Editor. There’s no need to send someone back out to the space to recapture existing conditions.  This means lower costs and less delay.

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It’s scalable.

With Archilogic, you can convert your existing design standards into visual design elements once and apply those standards to any floor plan you send our way. So providing stunning visual representations of your space – finished or unfinished – is as easy for 100 sites as it is for one. This makes Archilogic perfect for working with large, distributed portfolios.

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It’s flexible.

Archilogic makes “usefulness” the central tenet of its platform. We approach what we build by understanding the problems our users face and creating tools that let them solve them in intuitive ways. Space visualization is only one tool – one output – that can be useful in solving real estate problems. The process of digitizing a space may never result in visualizing that space. It may mean, instead, using hierarchical data to provide complex analysis across a portfolio, or to provide the context for the procurement of furniture. You never know exactly what types of property problems or processes you’ll need to engage with in the future, but Archilogic’s engine is powerful and versatile enough to handle whatever comes your way.

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And you can still use Matterport!

Having a pixel-perfect visual representation of space and using other great sources of building information shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. Archilogic, as a holistic building information platform, makes it easy to centrally manage space and connect that space to other sources of spatial data – including Matterport.

Turning data into knowledge

We all know that without context, data is useless. For meaningful information, data must be interpreted for a specific purpose. Matterport does this, rendering spatial data as visual information. But Archilogic goes further. By drawing on all the data contained within a floor plan, and manipulating it according to need, we generate real, valuable knowledge that real estate professionals can use to solve a host of problems. That’s what really matters. 

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