Are Matterport 3D Tours created with a Smartphone a Threat or Opportunity?10202

Originally Posted by DanSmigrod
@joelfduran
@WayanMatt
@immersivespaces
@Sandiemcr

Actually, Matterport Pros - like you - should be celebrating the news that:

✓ Matterport will enable Matterport 3D Tours to be created with a smartphone
✓ Matterport has enabled Matterport 3D Tours created with under $1,000 (and even under $500) 360º 1-click cameras).

That's because democratizing the creation of Matterport 3D Tours will increase the demand for professionally shot 3D Tours.

I could imagine that you already have clients because they saw a competitor do Matterport and they contacted you. Now scales this. The more Matterport 3D Tours of [add your vertical of choice here], the more businesses [in this vertical] will want to have a Matterport 3D Tour and a large percentage will want Matterport Service Providers - a professionals - to shoot their content with professional gear.

Cell phones have not put photographers out-of-business. And, even better cell phones will not put photographers out-of-business.

For Matterport to scale exponentially – a good thing for all of us - it is essential that Matterport democratize content creation.

Exponential growth for Matterport WILL translate to more work for Matterport Service Providers (and for higher fees) when the demand for content creation exceeded the Pros to create it.

From my WGAN Forum post two months ago: (before Thursday's (26 September 2019) news that Matterport will offer Smartphone capture):

✓ Will Matterport Offer a Smartphone Capture Solution?

To scale Matterport exponentially, one of the drivers is bringing down the cost of the camera. While we may debate the quality of Matterport 3D Tours captured with an Insta360 One X or Ricoh Theta V, the point here is that the 3D Tours are "good enough" that Matterport opened its platform to these 360 cameras to enable more Matterport content creators. Now, for less than $400 (versus the $4,500 that I paid for my Matterport Pro1 3D Camera in July 2014), Matterport 3D Tour creation becomes much more affordable. And, these 360º 1-click cameras will only get better in quality (and likely continue to decline in price).

Arguably, the even lower cost camera is in our pocket: a smartphone. And, while my iPhone XR phone costs much more than an Insta360 One X or Ricoh Theta V, I would argue that the incremental cost of using a smartphone is zero because I already have the iPhone. Imagine when Matterport enables smartphones, anyone will be able to take Matterport for a spin. While it would likely make sense to have a dedicated smartphone for creating Matterport 3D tours, the key is how does Matterport reduce friction to Matterport 3D Tour trial creation. Trial is the key. It's the beginning of adopting Matterport 3D Tours.

Plus, most people upgrade their smartphones every 12 or 24 months, our Matterport capture device would automatically improve (without having to buy a new, dedicated camera).

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From my WGAN Forum post 10 months ago (before Matterport mashed up the Ricoh Theta V and Insta360 One X to create Matterport 3D Tours):

✓ Matterport + All 360º Cameras = Exponential Growth (for all of us)

Your thoughts?

Dan