Ricoh Innovations Corporation, a subsidiary of the electronics giant that specializes in everything from computer software to cameras, announced on Wednesday a rebrand of Ricoh Tours, its virtual tour solution for real estate agents.
The rebrand includes a new name, Ricoh360 Tours, and the release of two new features that allow users to create teams and automatically crop 3D videos to create 2D photos.
“Ricoh Tours, the industry’s only complete and affordable 360 virtual tour solution under one brand, today announced the company’s rebranding as Ricoh360 Tours to further expand globally,” the announcement read. “Last year, RICOH Tours realized it was time to branch out and leverage its unique offering of both 360-degree cameras and virtual tour software into countries outside of North America.”
“[The] new brand reflects the company’s commitment to bring speed, features and [while reaching] together for [its] customers and partners,” it added.
Ricoh Tours started in 2018 after Ricoh Innovations Corporation noticed its Ricoh Theta camera was a popular pick for real estate agents and professionals. For $45 per month, agents with a Ricoh Theta camera could quickly create 3D tours using the Ricoh Tours app on iOS and Android.
“We got feedback from the market showing that they want better software that it is specifically built for real estate agents,” Ricoh Tours Business Lead Kay Iwaisako told Inman in 2018. “So that’s what we did.”
Since then, Ricoh has released a handful of updates, including a new, flagship Ricoh Theta camera that records in 4K and the ability to create immersive listing videos for agent banner advertising campaigns. The new features released today build on previous updates by allowing agents to manually and automatically crop 3D videos to create 2D stills for marketing and MLS listings.
Credit: Ricoh360 Tours
“With auto-cropping users have the ability to allow the Richo360 Tours AI-based image processing technology to generate the best 2D stills automatically from every 360 image in a virtual tour ready for publishing to an MLS,” the company explained in a press release.
The second update allows users to create teams, so fellow brokers and agents in a brokerage can quickly access tours and have a digital business card displayed throughout the video.
“Teams are a great way to manage all of the properties under one agency in a central place,” the announcement added. “Team members have their own business card that is displayed in their tour and each team member will have their own profile photo.”
Current users have access to both new features for the original monthly subscription price of $45, while new subscribers must choose Ricoh360 Tours’ $80 standard subscription, which includes two additional members. For larger teams, users must pay an additional $20 per month per member.