Hong Kong point-and-view app that finds 'haunted flat' bargains

Inspired by Pokemon Go, Spacious.hk augmented reality app shows prices of flats in buildings you pass, including any where untimely deaths occurred, while Room3 uses virtual reality to show flats in comfort of your home

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The augmented reality feature on the Spacious property search app, showing property listing details including “haunted houses”.

Mark Sharpin Hong KongandElaine Yauin Beijing

Published: 5:30am, 31 Oct 2016Updated: 12:33pm, 31 Oct 2016

The technology behind the Pokemon Go smartphone game phenomenon has been harnessed by a Hong Kong property listings start-up, which has applied augmented reality (AR) to its home-search app. The new feature, launched by Spacious.hk last week as an update, enables users to point their mobile device at buildings, get on-the-spot information and prices on flats for rent or sale – and find “haunted houses”.

Users can tap an “AR” button, which activates the phone’s camera. By pointing the camera at a property, details of any flats for rent or sale listed by Spacious will pop up on the screen.

And, rather than hunt pocket monsters, users can find cartoon ghost icons that indicate the “haunted houses” on its database.

Tapping on the ghost icon produces a pop-up explaining the circumstances behind a killing, suicide or other untimely death that occurred in the building. It is a feature that gives users the opportunity to bargain for a discount on the property when seeking to buy or rent.

“Augmented reality is something we’d been thinking about for a while. After Pokemon Go came out at the end of July, the success of that made us realise the potential for our app,” says Asif Ghafoor, founder and CEO of Spacious. “We think it’s a technological first. We don’t think anyone else has done this before.”