Gaming Technology To The Real Estate World

Blake Batson, the 42-year-old founder of ZIM Technologies (who had already sold ZIM Technologies to Ottawa entrepreneur Michael Cowpland), has successfully transplanted gaming technology to the business world, refining computer programming that allows participants to click and take a virtual tour through a new home.

Think about your child's favourite computer game and you get the idea. But instead of picking off bad guys in a dark castle, Batson lets buyers walk through rooms that are weeks and months away from construction.

Program allows potential buyers to 'walk through' a computer model of builder's finished product.

Batson saw a gaping niche in the housing industry: How to help buyers really feel and see a home when it is still just lines on paper.

It also makes good business sense, helping buyers explore all of the options at home, then head back to the models and the sales centre to seal the deal.