WGAN-TV Transcript | New! iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System | We Get Around Network Forum

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	WGAN-TV \| New! iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System for Residential Real Estate, Design & Build & More \| Guests: Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE) Product Marketing Manager Chris White and Planitar Inc. (iGUIDE ) Manager, Product Management Marcus Doran \| www.GOiGUIDE.com \| Episode #230 \| Wednesday, 6 November 2024 \| @mzivkovic @Chris_iGuide Transcript (below) - Would you like to see a demo of the new iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System? - How does the new PLANIX R1 compare to the PLANIX Pro and PLANIX Core? - In addition to residential real estate, what are other iGUIDE use cases? Stay tuned. Hi all, I'm Dan Smigrod, Founder of the We Get Around Network Forum. Today is Wednesday, November 6th, 2024. You're watching WGAN-TV Live at 5: a podcast for digital twin creators shaping the future of real estate today. We have an awesome show for you: Planitar, the Makers of iGUIDE, Introduces the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System for Residential Real Estate Photographers, Design and Build, Insurance Adjusters and More. Our subject matter experts are Product Marketing Manager Chris White. Chris, thanks for being back on the show. - Thanks for having me again. - And iGUIDE Manager, Product Management, Marcus Doran. Marcus, thank you for being on WGAN-TV. - Really glad I have the chance to be with you here today, Dan. - Chris, before we dive into a demo of the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System, please give our viewers an overview of iGUIDE. - Okay, I'd be happy to. So some of your viewers may have seen previous content. We've done this a few times now, I think. So- - Yes. For viewers who want to refer to previous WGAN-TV shows, you can go to: www.WGAN.INFO/iGUIDEonWGAN Chris, please feel free to share your screen. We've done previous shows on iGUIDE Instant; iGUIDE for Lead Capture; iGUIDE for the AEC Space: quite a bit of different specialty shows. But let's begin with an overview of iGUIDE for those that haven't seen one. - Okay. Can you see my screen? - [Dan] Yes. - There you go. Technology works. Okay. So this is an iGUIDE, and what you're looking at here is a combination of floor plan and 360 degree views. So that means you can look up and down and left and right and anywhere you want, but at all times you have a floor plan available so that you can figure out where you are in the space. There are two ways to navigate. One is visual. So if I click on any of the little circles, I can move through the space as though I were walking through it, but I can also click anywhere I want on the floor plan and go directly to that space. And both those forms of navigation work together to help you as a person exploring that space for whatever reason; understand it and feel like not only that you're there, but that you have a really good sense from the top down of sort of the flow of the home and how different spaces connect. So in addition to that, there are some other tools. So if you look at the top of the iGUIDE experience, you're going to see a sort of a menu bar that has some tabs in it. So what you're looking at here, what I just described is called the 3D tour. But there's also a photo gallery, which is exactly what it sounds like, a bunch of photos. The photos are very important, so that's why they're there. And then there's a details item. There's a details tab. And the details is really interesting because this really, taps into the value prop for iGUIDE. Here you find all of the room dimensions, individual room square footages, total square footages, and what most people want when they're listing a home, which is the total exterior area, or sometimes it's called gross floor area, but basically it's the total footprint of the house in square footage or square meters. As an added bonus, there's also a map to show where the property is, and then a language selector, if you want to choose a language other than English. In addition to that, there's a few more things. These are a little bit more advanced, but they are incredible. One of them is a measurement tool. A measurement tool allows you to measure anything you want in 2D or 3D space. This is, again, a big part of what makes iGUIDE: iGUIDE, which is accuracy and measurement and floor plans that are usable for things like this. So I'll just give you a really quick example. I can measure anything I want on the floor plan by clicking and dragging. Can you see that, Dan, that line that I just made? - [Dan] Yes. - There you go. So this is really useful. There are two other measure modes that allow you to measure on the visuals, but I use this one because it has really obvious benefits for someone who wants to understand the space. If I want to see if a couch fits, I can just measure right on the floor plan. So these floor plans aren't stylized floor plans for navigation only. They're accurate floor plans that are meant to represent the space so that you can measure on those floor plans and make decisions about whether you and your life fit in a space or how you'd like to change it, or what maybe is affected in, say, the situation where there's maybe damage or a loss. Does that make sense, Dan? Did I cover most everything? - Yes, I think just two other things. One is if you wanted to minimize that map. - Oh, yeah, there you go. - Okay, great. And then, Chris, I'll ask you my next question if you just come off of screen share there. Yeah, that's great. Today is Wednesday, November 6th, 2024. It's 5:06 PM ET. If I am uploading the tour to iGUIDE, how long until I get it back? - Right, so we have drafting teams all over the world, and we now deliver seven days a week. And we promise to deliver almost everything, we have a variety of products, but basically everything within 24 hours or less than 24 hours from when you upload it. So that means that if I upload it on a Friday, I'm going to get it back, it's typically much faster than this, but sometime the following day, within that 24 hour period. So it can be three hours, it can be six hours, but typically you get them back while you're sleeping, which is nice. So that you get a nice surprise when you wake up. - And why is there a drafting team rather than letting the technology automatically generate the floor plans, for example? - Holy moly, good question. So we at iGUIDE take the data that's submitted and we use tools like AI to help draft. But at the end of the day, a physical person is going to look at that information and they're going to make the call on where to place walls, doors, windows, and other details. So we have a very skilled, incredibly skilled, set of different drafting teams all over the place. And we have some in, literally they're in this building right now, right over there, and they take that information and they draw those floor plans. So real physical people see the data that's sent in, and they follow, obviously, rigorous standards when they're drafting it, but they make the process of interpreting that data as easy as possible because they are so, well, to be frank, talented, and really good at interpreting the data from the iGUIDE PLANIX camera that they can basically draft properties very, very quickly and very, very accurately based on standards like ANSI Z65 and the Alberta RMS. Did that answer your question? - Yeah, I'll ask you more about floor plans a little bit later. I'm tempted to ask you for a demo of the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System, but I see that glass of water and it's giving me some angst with your computers there. Are you okay giving us a demo with that water there? - I think I can handle it, yeah. - Okay. All right. - We'll figure it out. - This is the star of the show. This is what everybody wants to see. We've done the iGUIDE introduction. Now we get to do the fun stuff. So I'm going to bring this up just for a really quick- Oh, there you go. Okay, I'm going to get my assistant to bring it up to the camera. - No, no, I actually want to see, oh, okay. We're kind of doing a little modified demo here, so I can't really see the whole camera there, but okay. - That's fine. So I just wanted to show people what it is that I'm sort of engaging in. But we'll do a full demo. - I really want to see you take a couple scans. Maybe give Marcus the, yeah, yeah. Okay, good. I just wanted to get that out of the shot. Yep. - Would you like me to describe the process while I do it? - Yes. - So what I've done is I've turned the camera on. There's only one button, it's a power button. After I've turned it on, I'm going to connect it with a smart device. You can use whatever you want. We have an iOS or Android version of our app. Phone, tablet, it's not picky. Most people prefer to use a phone because they already have it. But tablets are nicer. They've got more screen real estate. Either way, once you've connected to the camera, what you're going to be able to do is capture information using the integrated 360 camera and the integrated LiDAR. And the magic of iGUIDE is that there are lots of technologies that do this, that turn physical spaces into digital ones, but this one uses a unique combination of 360 images and LiDAR that are- - Well, I tell you what, I'm going to ask you all about that. I want to see a demo of it first. - No, I couldn't even stop myself. It's ridiculous. - But tell me when you're going to shoot and tell me when it's done shooting. - So what I'm going to do is create a project and I'm going to shoot right now. Bear with me. Talk amongst yourselves. - Okay. You can visit iGUIDE at: www.GOiGUIDE.com - Okay, I'm going to press the shoot button, so it's Shooting. I'll show you in a second. I'll hold my phone, oh, there we go. Okay. So that was a few seconds. So I'm going to bring my phone up to the camera and show you what I've captured. - Okay. All right, so we see the 360 up on top, and then below we see the scan data. - [Chris] That's correct. So I can switch between these to make it maybe a little bit easier. - Okay. - [Chris] Hold on. There we go. So this is the data that was just captured. It's very exciting. - That's the LiDAR data that the camera's able to capture in a 2D plane, and then the imagery, the panagraphic imagery on top of that, of what was captured by the camera. And it is precisely calibrated with the LiDAR so that we're able to locate objects within the photographs in relation to the LiDAR data that we have. - Okay. We'll talk more about LiDAR, I promise. And let's see a second shot and how you connect that. - Okay. Are you ready? Hold on. - Okay. So we're pretending you were actually using a tripod. - Yeah, we're doing a role play. We're pretending. - Okay. - Okay, so I've moved the camera to a different location and then I'm pressing the button again, and we're going to wait while it scans. - Okay. And you pressed the button? - I did, yep. So, I don't know if you heard the beep, but the beep means you did a thing. So we've done that. - Okay. So let's bring the camera back onto your table and then let's see that second shot. Okay. - [Chris] Okay, so both these shots are in the same room. So you can see the camera positions relative to the walls that have been measured, the camera positions are these little arrows here. - Great, so if you take your phone back and your camera back to the table, that'd be good. That way we'll be able to hear you. And I believe what I saw on the scan data was that there was a location of two scans within that scan data. So as you were looking to map the room. We've done a much longer show on this topic. So again: www.WGAN.INFO/iGUIDEonWGAN Okay, so, Marcus, how about telling us what went into the design and build of the PLANIX R1 Camera System? And I think in that process, we'll start to learn more about the camera and actually look at the PLANIX R1 up close. - Absolutely. Absolutely. So this is a camera that's been in development for a little while now. I think we started our initial ideas about 18 months ago, learning immediately after the launch of the PLANIX Pro, starting to gather information about how people were using our cameras, the sort of issues that we're running into, and really the expansion beyond residential real estate into these adjacent markets like architecture; design/build; and insurance. And as we set out to build this camera, we wanted to create something that really matched that breadth of use cases while simplifying the capture process for our experts. Especially when you're in a situation where you're dealing with time pressure and efficiencies in how you get your work done, having a reliable tool that has fast capture times, long battery life, and is durable, is something that we wanted to solve. We wanted to bring that as a tool that added that flexibility to people while also making sure that we had a loyal customer base of photographers who really care about image quality and the presentation of the tours that they're creating. So how do we continue to drive forward improvements in the images that we're capturing as well, and make sure that we're able to keep up with the level of detail that people are looking for when they're trying to inspect a space. So it is something that's evolved over a fairly lengthy period of time, but it really is about trying to take in that simplicity and ease of use as the cornerstone of the design behind it. - So perhaps you could hold up or Chris, maybe you could hold up the camera for our viewers and then maybe Marcus could speak to each of the different features of the camera that maybe was new and improved and how and why. Chris, can you bring it up close to the... - Why don't you hold it up? - Okay, Marcus, maybe Marcus, do you want to bring it up close and talk about it? Either way. - So I think the feature of this camera that can be really important, it does start with the simplicity there. As Chris said, there's just a single button and no ports on this camera. It is designed to be connected to; wirelessly through your smart device. And it's using a Ricoh THETA X for its imagery that is built into the camera. So I know with the PLANIX Core, we released a device that allowed people to insert their own cameras. This one is yet another level of integration where we're really leveraging the THETA X as something that is important for not just capturing pictures, but the processing that we're doing on it. So this device means that we're able to keep the weight down. It's only 175 grams, which is about 1 3/4 pounds. And it includes both the 2D LiDAR and the ability to keep that durability up with our cover; the protective shield that helps make sure that as you're using it, it doesn't get damaged. And we wanted to build in a long battery life for this, something that is really an all day battery. So we have expectations of six or more hours of constant shooting as part of the expected battery life for this. - Is that battery an off-the-shelf battery that I could buy at Amazon or is that unique? - Well, that's a sneaky question. So the answer, okay, I'm just going to show you because it's more fun. The answer is yes. - Off the shelf. - Okay. Are you ready? So this is a... See that, Dan? - A little bit. Maybe you could, in words, tell us what we're looking at. - All right, so this is a Milwaukee M12 red lithium high output 2.5 amp hour lithium battery. - Okay, so I can buy that from Amazon, but- - You can buy it from Home Depot, RONA, wherever you want. - But I don't know how to ask the question. If I bought a second battery from iGUIDE, would it come with that piece? There was a piece that you took off of the battery. - Oh, it does. Yeah, that's correct. Yeah. - If I buy, do I get the two pieces? When I buy it from iGUIDE, I get... - You do, yeah. - The piece that's attached and the battery? So if I buy a battery directly, let's say through Amazon, then I'm not getting that extra piece. I have to be careful. Don't break that because I only got one of those. - Yeah, holy, absolutely. Yeah, 100%. - Is that right? - The nice thing about this is that, yeah, availability, so you can get it anywhere. They're relatively low cost, they're also very reliable. But in the real world, what happens is that you run your battery and you charge it every day, if you remember to do that, and then at some point you forget. And then you're out in the field and you need a new one, and now you can go almost anywhere and just buy one. - Okay, and is that charged in the camera or is it charged in a separate charger? - So it's in a separate charger. I have one here I can show you in a moment. The separate charger is lovely. It's exactly what you'd expect using a Milwaukee battery. It sort of plugs in and then it has like a blinky light that charges it. The benefit of our charger though, our custom charger, is that it is USB-C powered. And so that means that it's very mobile. You don't need an AC outlet to use it. That means that, and we know what this is like being a real estate photographer or someone out in the field. you're in your car and you have an adapter. So that's, obviously you can plug it into a wall outlet. Of course. It comes with a brick. But you can plug it into your car. - I think what I heard was unlike the preceding camera, the PLANIX Pro, where you could bring your own Ricoh THETA Z1 Camera and put it into the PLANIX Core to create the PLANIX Pro, on the PLANIX R1 Camera System, I can't bring my own Ricoh THETA X. It's deeply integrated, it's built in, it's not coming out of its mount. - And this is actually a deepening of our partnership with Ricoh. We got to collaborate with them directly during the design process to sort of reach a new level of integration and leverage some of the technology that they have in THETA X directly in how we have built the R1. - Okay, and what do I get when I buy an iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System? - That's a good question. - What are all the different pieces that come with it? - Well, look at this, you get a box. How cool is that? - Okay. - I'll show you. We'll do a super-rapid 30 second to one minute unboxing. - Okay. All right, so it includes a case. - A soft case. Yeah. And the reason it comes with a soft case instead of a hard case is that we have made the camera so durable that it no longer needs a hard case. That means that if you chose to not use this case, that's okay. This was meant to go into almost any bag. - Can you hold it up so I can see the height of the case compared to the PLANIX? - So it's made, I wouldn't say oversized, but there's extra room for accessories, chargers, batteries, all the things you might need. And then it's basically been designed so you can slap a tripod on top. It's very nice. It's a good case. - Okay. And is there a charger that comes with it? - Oh, you betcha. Let me show you the charger. - Okay. And then there's some places that have USB-C in. - [Chris] You got it. - Okay, great. And... - Our cameras are also going to ship with one of these. So this is a neoprene sleeve. Very common when you buy a lens or another piece of photographic, or that comes with a little pouch. And so that means you can put it not only in any bag, but you can put it in a bag with other items and it won't scratch it. So the way the camera was designed was to have a cover that covers all of the, I'll use this instead, all of the components. So the lenses for the LiDAR and the camera and the power button, and then a sleeve so that when you want to use a different bag, you're not limited in any way. You can put it in anything you like and it'll be durable enough to live happily in almost any- - Okay, and Chris, does the system come with a USB-C cable? - It does. Look at this. And it's really nice. Okay, cool. And does it come with the piece that goes into the wall? - It does, it does. It's really nice too. So we provide a power brick that's branded, but it's- - Okay, and is it a place for one in? - [Chris] There's actually two. So the two we give you- - And I can't hear you there. So if you go back, yeah. What are the two on that power brick? - So there's two, there's USB-C and a USB-A. And so they're both capable of power delivery, but we give you a USB-C to USB-C cable to go from this to the charger. But then the additional USB-A port can be used to charge your smart device. The assumption is that if you work all day and you get home, you want to charge not only your camera battery, but also your phone. So we give you both. - Okay. But I could be charging, I may have confused myself. Can I charge the battery in the camera as well? - No. So you have to remove it to charge it. - Okay, so that's why I want to say, if I'm looking, if you just hold up the PLANIX R1, then, excuse me, the R1. Yeah. There are no ports on there. - That's correct. - There's zero ports. There's nothing to plug into it. - Yep. - Yeah. - The only thing that you can physically do is two things. Remove the lens cap. I don't know, do you call that a lens cap? - Actually, its official name is system shield, because it's more than a lens cap. I've never seen a camera with anything like that. - Okay, so other than our "Star Wars" reference here, you can remove the lens cap, the lens cap on Steroids here, and remove the battery in order to charge it. - Correct. The only other thing that you would interact with other than the power button would be the 3/4" threaded hole the bottom to mount it on a tripod quickly- - Great, okay. So it's got a professional mount on the bottom. So, Marcus, if I could go back to you and maybe Chris could model for us, model the camera. - Oh, absolutely. Oh, the camera. Okay. Gotcha. Yeah, sure. - Can you talk a little bit more about, as the feedback came back from the iGUIDE PLANIX Pro, the iGUIDE PLANIX Core, what changed on this camera that's different than the two previous? Can you take us through each of those things? You mentioned, for example, that the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System is deeply integrated with a Ricoh THETA X versus a Ricoh THETA Z1. - Yeah. We're making a big architectural change between the PLANIX Pro and the R1 in terms of where image processing happens. So with the PLANIX Pro, the idea would be that it was pretty important to get the best image quality you would want to take the data off the PLANIX Pro. - I'm sorry, I'm being distracted by Chris. Chris, thank you for holding it up, but let's go back. - I was just going to keep doing it. - Rewind here, Marcus. - All right, we'll try again. - Totally interrupted your thought here, why is it in, a Ricoh THETA X versus a Ricoh THETA Z1? Why is that better for the users of this camera? - Absolutely, and I mean, it starts with image resolution, that the ability to capture a 60 megapixel image with the Ricoh THETA X is really part of how we're driving improved image clarity and that really beautiful tour that you're looking for as a photographer. But not only that, when I say that it's more deeply integrated, it's really about a change in philosophy around how we do image processing. With the PLANIX Pro, any of the photographers that were looking to get the best touch-ups that they could; the best color correction they could; we always encourage them to use our desktop software called iGUIDE Stitch to help you take the imagery off the camera, onto your laptop, do any color correction that you want, and then upload to our web portal so that you can create your iGUIDE. With the R1, we wanted to further support the idea that you could go directly from your smartphone to the portal itself. And in order to do that, we're actually doing image processing, both using THETA X. Some of the integrated technology inside the camera itself allows us to pre-process imagery. And then again, leveraging your smart device to do further color correction and white balancing as you take each photograph instead of having to go through a lengthy process later. And really it's that that helps people be more efficient, and we see a future where it moves more and more towards this, where you have the option of skipping the desktop phase if you want to go into a sort of mobile first workflow. - So does the PLANE XI R1 eliminate the need for iGUIDE Stitch? - I think that Stitch will still be an important tool for people that are looking to do the power user use cases and the tweaking in some cases. But what you do get now is the full image correction, color correction, white balancing piece, on the phone with no requirement to go to the desktop. So we're not done with Stitch yet, but we think that there's a big chunk of users that will be able to skip that phase. - So if "good enough" is your benchmark, then you may be able to eliminate Stitch and speed up your workflow. If you're obsessive in terms of the image quality, color correction, et cetera, then at least you know that you have a platform available in order to do post production if that's your thing. But for perhaps a whole new generation of users of the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System will be totally happy with the workflow without using Stitch. - And I think part of our design philosophy is we want to put the power in our user's hands to do those unusual corner cases, those power user options. And so we're going to continue to support that while making the sort of happy path as easy as possible. - Chris, when you showed us an iGUIDE example, did you run the imagery through Stitch on that particular tour? - No, I didn't, actually, which is sort of funny. So the images that come out of this camera have been tuned to be good for almost everyone. But at the end of the day, images are, it's subjective, right? So, hilariously, almost everything that comes out of the camera is what I like. So it's like a Chris preset. But we decided to tune it so that the image just coming out would be a little bit conservative. Everybody likes different stuff, right? Some people like vibrant colors, some people like things more flat, so it's not crazy out of the box. But then to your point, Dan, yeah, we give people the tools so that if they're not 100% happy, they can still bring it into that desktop software and they can still modify it, or they can just go straight from the camera right to the iGUIDE cloud and upload it. And both of those are perfectly supported. Yeah. - Were other advantages of switching to the Ricoh THETA X. - The THETA X is, its main advantage is that it has a high resolution, which Marcus already mentioned. And so that extra detail, like no one's going to say no to that, everybody wants that. It has slightly more advanced color processing. This comes out in the images and that's one of the reasons why they just look better straight out of camera. It's not all of us. I wish I could take all the credit, but it's not. It's also because Ricoh has helped us out there. But the Ricoh THETA X is... - It looks smaller and lighter than- - Well, that's the thing. It's smaller, it's lighter, it's more advanced. We can run custom code, it allows us to do more, basically, which is awesome. And it allows us to make things essentially faster. So we haven't talked about speed yet. Can we talk about speed? - Yes. - Okay. It's time. So this camera is fast. It's very fast. You can scan in, with HDR off obviously, and with some of the other settings off, in two seconds you can scan a room, and that's full LiDAR and 360 degree image. That doesn't necessarily make any sense for some applications, so HDR- - So let's speak for real estate photographers using HDR turned on. - That's right. So with HDR turned on, there's multiple settings, but we're looking at four to eight seconds per scan. I mean, that's pretty fast, but this camera has some tricks up its sleeve. So one of those tricks does affect real estate photographers and its noise reduction. So we built in noise reduction by combining multiple images right into the interface of using the camera, right into the shooting experience. So that if you want to have it, extend that shoot time, you can, and you can get noise reduction as a result of that. Or I should reverse that. If you want to choose noise reduction, it's going to take a little longer, but it's going to- - Chris, the vast majority of our community are professional real estate photographers, probably either shooting or looking at a 3D/360 solution. But for those that are not, explain noise reduction. - Oh, that's good. A lot of people don't understand what this is. So basically any camera system that has a sensor, when it takes an image, is going to have little speckly bits in it, we'll say that. And those little speckly bits are not real detail. They're a result of the way the sensor picks up light. So those can be artificially removed or there are different image pipelines or technologies that have less or more noise depending where you are. Either way, we use a technique in camera while you're shooting to capture what is essentially several images to combine them into one to reduce that noise. And that's about as good as you can get. It's not strictly speaking artificial. It's not like we're using noise removal in post. It's done with multiple exposures, which is pretty much the best way you can do it. - And you mentioned there were multiple settings. So... - Depends on- - That means 3-5-7 image bracketing or no, no, something else you wanted to talk about. - Oh, everything's low, medium, high. So what we've done is we've taken the experience that we've learned from 10 years of making these cameras and we've put it into the settings to give people what they use and what they want. And so with HDR, it's low, medium, high. Sometimes people want a more extreme HDR effect and sometimes they want less of an HDR effect. So technically there's four settings because you can also just turn it off. And we recommend that people turn it off for situations where there's no dynamic range, like a closet. So the HDR is configured to make things very simple, but the noise reduction is the same. It's off, low, medium, high. Very simple. But this camera has one other setting that's quite cool. And that's that you can switch between dynamic and static stitching whenever you want. There's no cost in speed, but there is a difference in the visual quality of the tour, but then also the ability to measure on it later. So what we've done is we've made dynamic stitching available for things like marketing applications where you want things to look pretty. And so just in case the listeners don't know, dynamic stitching means that the two images created by the THETA X, one from each lens, are stitched together, but then, we'll say massaged. Pixels are moved around for aesthetic purposes. So it's not necessarily accurate. Static stitching means that when the two images are combined to create the 360, they are not manipulated as much, we'll say. So you may have more stitching artifacts, like parallax errors, but you'll have a more accurate representation of the positioning of those pixels. So that's relevant for us at iGUIDE because we give you the ability to measure on screen using the images. And so you've got choices you can make. You can either have something look better or you can have it be more accurate. Often- - If I want it to look better, just for clarification, if I want it to look better, I want to use the setting for? - Dynamic stitching. And if you want it to be more accurate- - Look better, dynamic. Okay, let's leave it there so you don't confuse me with it. - Yeah, we don't want to confuse people. - Let's talk about LiDAR, Marcus. - Yeah, so I think that LiDAR is still an incredibly important part of our technology, much like it was in the PLANIX Pro. We haven't tried to change the formula that worked on the PLANIX Pro. It is still 2D 360 degree LiDAR with a range of about up to 40 meters or 130 feet. But there is an increase in the density of lasers being sent out from this version of LiDAR. It's the next generation. So we're looking at measurement uncertainty of up to as little as 25 millimeters at maximum range. And that really helps our drafting team be able to live up to our standards in the accuracy of the floor plans that they create and stay within that sort of 2 percent accuracy margin that is really important to us and to people who are trying to make important decisions based on the accuracy of that LiDAR information. - So I'm confused. I watched the iGUIDE marketing video. I thought I made the notes here. Half 0.05% accuracy range for distance and 1% for square footage. - Yeah, it's kind of complicated. So accuracy statements are always challenging. So I'll add some more information. So our current claim is based on our drafting process. So when we interpret the data, we're claiming that you can get a 0.5% uncertainty on linear measurements done in a floor plan. That's a mouthful, eh? But that results in lower than 1% uncertainty in a floor plan total, as in a total square footage, which far exceeds the sort of 2% standard. So we exceed that easily and handily. But that can be- - So it's not that you're delivering it at a plus or minus that the accuracy, it could be off by 2%, it really could be off by 1%, but that's within the standard that, and then I think, Chris, you had mentioned earlier ANSI Z765-2021. - Yeah, correct. Yeah. - And maybe RMS. - Alberta RMS. Yep. The Residential Measurement Standard- - So do those two standards, that are being used, are based on, must be at least within 2% of accuracy? - They have a whole slew of requirements that I don't think- - Yeah, I'm sorry I did that. I think what I'll do instead is just refer our viewers to an entire episode that we did on this topic, again, at: www.WGAN.INFO/iGUIDEonWGAN So if you're particularly interested in the ANSI Z765-2021 standard, RMS, checkout that particular WGAN-TV show. But I think, just to go back, Marcus, I heard you mention 2%, but the marketing video mentioned 1% for square feet. I just want clarification on that. - Yeah, thank you for clarifying, Dan. You're right. The importance of the 2% number is stuck in my mind as something that we want to make sure that we never exceed in any of our cameras. But the generation of LiDAR that we're using in the PLANIX R1 does allow us just that much more accuracy than the PLANIX Pro, a little bit greater laser density to collect the right information for our team. - So is the advantage of the density related to the accuracy or is that density used for any other purpose? - It allows you to get a clearer picture of what's in the room. And that's both in terms of the accuracy, but also when you're dealing with objects that are unusual sizes or walls that aren't quite straight, having higher laser density allows our team to be able to understand the contours of the room more effectively. And really, it's remarkable when you see these drafters working with this data. The smallest piece of information can be critical for them making the accurate representation of the room. - Okay, I had at least one We Get Around Network Forum member that reached out to me to ask about, but what if I want the height? Chris, could you speak to measurements related to height and how I can capture that with the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System? - Do you mean ceiling height? - Ceiling height. - Or the height of the object? Yeah, so what we do is we provide the iGUIDE experience on screen measurement tools. So any height can be measured for anything. So height means a lot of different things to different people. So we don't provide a blanket ceiling height for a whole house. That almost never makes sense. - Let me ask it differently. Because you may be making some assumptions when you're looking at doors. How you're doing your calculations. When do I want to shoot with the camera at 90 degrees? - Oh, okay. So that's, okay, that's a separate thing. So that makes sense that you would ask that. So we've recently, within the last six months, started providing CAD drawings. So vertical measurements are important for doing things like -- these aren't typical residential real estate things, but if you want to break out into an adjacent kind of field and you want to create CAD drawings, we do; do that. Vertical measurements allow you to do things like measure stairwells and determine the, we're getting real nerdy now, I'm sorry, the distance from, sorry, floor to ceiling below. So if you were to measure a space, the distance of that, that's sort of occupied between the drywall of the ceiling and then the floor joist and then the floor above, is unknown. So vertical measurements can help with that because you can measure stairwells and that, yeah, you're right, you tilt the camera on its side and you measure. They're also useful for things like roof plans to get vertical measurements of basically the height of things. Ceiling heights, ceiling geometry, we have a whole... - Okay, so- - List of things even. - So for those that are in the know in architecture remodeling, CAD files mean something, and you're looking for the measurements within a CAD file, then shoot both ways. - Yeah, you can. Yeah. - Yeah. - 90 degrees with your tripod. So now I'm confused again. I thought I heard in the marketing video mention that the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System is for indoor use, but I heard you mention roofs. - I think it's something that is really important as you're trying to capture those more CAD-focused use cases where you're going to create an accurate representation of the entire building. We end up encouraging people to shoot the exterior of a building as well in order for us to get the right measurements to create aligned floor plans and accurately represent the height and roof slope as part of this as well. - So outdoors is fine. - Well, yeah, you can take the camera outside. Absolutely. So all iGUIDE cameras forever have been very, very forgiving, fair weather, outside of a property. The difference now over the last year or so is that people are gathering more measurements that are relevant to outside. So people always want to see the outside of a property, like in a real estate context, people are -- they want to see the deck and the -- - Okay, outdoor, not a problem. This camera works... - Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. It's very forgiving outside. In fact, the vast majority of people, especially in southern states, are going to take the camera outside by default. But now you can do things like, so this relates to the CAD packages that we create. You can create basically exterior elevation drawings. So exterior elevation drawings obviously require you to document the outside of the house, otherwise we would have no idea what the exterior is like. - Yes, so would you need the camera horizontal for that outdoor elevation? - We have a whole series of capture requirements. They're very simple, but they're fairly obvious. They involve sort of going around the perimeter of a building, so documenting the exterior, so that's cladding, window positions, all the details you'd see on the outside of a building. And then from time to time, depending on the details, you might rotate the camera to capture something that extends beyond the perimeter of the building, like bay windows and stuff like that, or different roof features and things like that. So, yeah, it's a combination of the two. - So I think what I've heard is that the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System, easier, it's efficient, fast, accurate, better image quality, smaller, lighter, the battery comes out, which is different from its predecessor. So you have swappable rechargeable batteries. Before we move on from the camera, camera specs, was there any other feature, benefit of the redesign? - So, yes, this camera's got some tricks, and one of the interesting ones is that we've moved from a physical storage media, so we used to store our data on a USB drive, to storing on the smart device. And so that's probably not a huge surprise to anybody. Smart devices are ubiquitous and the storage is pretty cheap now, but there are some really interesting benefits to that. One is that going straight to the cloud is, well, easier. You could do it before, you could do it with PLANIX Pro, but now the data's already here, so there's less data to move around. But the other benefit is that if you want a workflow that goes to your computer, that's still 100% supported. So for the power user who wants to edit and tinker, a lot of it is a bit magic to be honest. You can, for example, if you're like an Apple person, you can AirDrop the project from your phone to your computer. It does feel a bit like magic. I guess it is magic in a way, but that's one of the benefits of having that data accessible. So something that's very unique for iGUIDE is that you can see the data that you captured on your smart device. So other technologies take that data and they make you, I wouldn't say jump through hoops, but they don't give you the access that iGUIDE does. So we give you the actual files- - So the storage on a card, which goes into the PLANIX Pro, that's been eliminated. All the data automatically transferred to whatever device you're using, iOS, Android, smartphone, tablet. - Yep. - You got it, Dan. - Awesome. - There's one other feature that I think the team is really excited about that is hoping to sort of help people orient themselves as they're going through the capture process. And that is a technology called SLAM or Synchronous Location and Mapping. And really we've implemented this as a feature called Live LiDAR inside the PLANIX R1 that lets you see as you're creating that map of the space, when you move the camera from spot-to-spot, it's actually able to keep track of its own position and update in real-time where you're moving it and help give some hints on whether you need to stay a little closer to your last scan location to make sure that you're getting that appropriate coverage as you move through the building. And I think that's going to be a really great benefit for especially new users to iGUIDE who are looking to understand how to capture a space effectively. - I want to say, previously, you didn't know that. You would just move the camera and then, and... - You'd take a shot and see where it ended up on the map after you'd taken your scan. I think now it's- - And if it didn't connect, then you'd be manually connecting it in post production to put the two scans together, so now- - You can do it in real time or you can do it in post. Yeah. - So now you can actually see where the camera is even before you hit the button to take your next scan to see how much overlap you have of the data. Is that fair to say? - Yeah, it actually gives you a color coded feedback on whether it has confidence that it's going to be able to place that scan accurately in relation to your other data. So it helps you understand how far you can move with the camera before you need to take your next scan. - Okay, and so how does the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System compare to other cameras on the market? - That's a great question. So it's easy to compare this to a 360 camera. So, for example, the THETA X that's integrated into it, or the Ricoh THETA Z1 is still a popular choice. And this obviously adds LiDAR to those. So that means that there's a great benefit to accuracy and floor planning. Also, it allows you to get into the iGUIDE drafting process. We don't have a series of capture devices. Well, we have two capture devices at the moment, but they are the only ones that you can create iGUIDEs with because the quality of the data is something that we can use to achieve the levels of accuracy that we're going for. So that means that if you compare it to 360 cameras, you're getting a lot of quality of life improvements. So 360 cameras have, generally speaking, terrible batteries. So this has a monstrous battery. That means you can shoot all day. I forget what it is. It's like six hours of continuous use, two shots per minute or something ridiculous. And then if you wanted, you can just swap it out. So that's awesome. You're getting the benefit of obviously LiDAR, which I mentioned. So that means you're getting that accurate measurement in addition to the 360 images, but then you're also getting access to all the other services that iGUIDE provides if you want to order, like, CAD packages and stuff. So compared to a 360 camera, it's a big step up. Compare it to something that is more expensive, we haven't talked about price yet, but, well, let's compare it to something in the $6,000 to $120,000 range. There are a lot of really expensive fancy cameras out there. Those provide an absolutely monstrous amount of data, which is very cool. These vast humongous point clouds are really interesting and fun, but they are not nearly as targeted as these. Those are more like a fire hose and this is more like a scalpel. This provides an amazing experience, which I should, everyone right off the top, that has a, well, I mean, I work for Planitar, so I kind of have to say this, but it's true, I believe it. The perfect combination of property data for lots of different applications. So we'll use residential real estate as an example. It is the absolute perfect combination of property data in the form of plans and 360 degree images for someone to understand a home and make a decision about whether they want to buy it or not. whether they want to make that purchase decision. So when compared to those cameras, this camera is extremely efficient, it's built for speed and it's built to capture exactly what is required and not a whole lot more; because you don't need it, you're just throwing it away anyway. Does that make sense? - Well, yeah, but you mentioned $6,000 and up. What is the price of the PLANIX R1 Camera System? - Excellent question. So this, the MSRP for this camera is USD $2,499 CAD 3,499. - So if I was looking at three things to compare, and I was looking at other platforms and other cameras, what are the three things that are top of mind to compare? - Three competitors? So immediately I compare this to a 360 camera, it's very common for people to do that. Sorry, what were you going to say? - The factors I think that Dan is looking for, right? - Oh, the three things to compare. Oh, okay. Well, that's easy. - Is it, well, is it price? It's $2,500 US compared to $6,000 and up? Is it the speed of capture that it's 2 to 7 seconds, compared to maybe something else on a camera that rotates? Is it how you charge for an iGUIDE: that it's not subscription versus a subscription? I mean, what are the things that are top of mind for you when comparing either the iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System or perhaps collectively along with an iGUIDE? - Yeah, so you, I mean, you don't even need us, you just hit all the key points there, right, very easily. But, yes, you're right. So this camera was designed to help people grow their business, whether that's a real estate photography business or they're an insurance adjuster or they're a design build firm, a member who does measurements and has to create CAD drawings. This was designed to give people a way to create really, really accurate sets of data that can be interpreted into floor plans and virtual experiences at a price that is extremely affordable when compared to more expensive technologies. Again, there's a lot out there, so it's hard to make a direct comparison, but this is ridiculously affordable when compared to most systems up in that sort of higher range. And the pricing is very transparent. To your point, we have pay per project pricing, which means that you pay for what you order. So if you order floor plans, they're typically billed by, I mean, we'll get real nerdy and everyone's going to get bored, but it's all based off a billable area, which is the total square footage drawn by- - Okay, I'll tell you what, we'll just, we'll refer people to: www.GOiGUIDE.com and can either purchase the camera there or check out how much a project is based on what their needs are. I did want to just -- your roots for iGUIDE are residential real estate. During our show today, you've mentioned a couple things, for example, on insurance claim documentation and restoration, I think of Xactimate. Does iGUIDE provide Xactimate file formats? - We do, yeah. We have a few different things that you can order, but they're all essentially what amounts to a sketch that you can bring into Xactimate or that through our integration will be automatically brought into Xactimate. And it's just an obviously an Xactimate version of the floor plan. And then, as an added bonus, you also have the iGUIDE to visually identify anything you want later. So it's not just that you're getting the sketch, you need the sketch, of course, but you're also going to get the ability to do on screen measurements and to check the condition of the loss. So one of the beauties of this system or all iGUIDE systems for insurance, is that you're creating something that's comprehensive. You know? You're not just measuring. You've got a full set of 360 degree images to look at whatever you want. - Got it. Forgive me, I just have a few minutes and I think we get that. On commercial design/build, general contractors, what file formats are you able to provide? - We provide DWG files, so that's a CAD file in 2D, DXF file, which is very similar. We provide a Revit output, which is, it's obviously 3D, it's a 3D model. And then we also have CAD packages. So CAD packages are combinations of things, but they basically amount to a drawing set in PDF on title block with either 2D CAD drawings you can bring, like working files you can bring into CAD, AutoCAD, or a 3D version that includes that, and then also a Revit model. - I know if I go to the iGUIDE website, it talks about facilities management as a use case. Is there anything in particular that, as a result of the PLANIX R1 Camera System, that just made facilities management easier, better? I don't know quite how to ask that question. It's not a different file format that you're providing, but is there something else regarding facilities management that's now possible that wasn't previously possible? - So the PLANIX R1 Camera System is meant to be basically faster and more efficient and make the job of capturing easier. So facility management is all about managing, well, obviously one facility, but sometimes many. And what this does is it enables more rapid capture and faster transfer to the cloud. That just means more can be ingested by someone who's managing a portfolio of properties. So we're just talking about speed and efficiency, really, with this. - Speed and efficiency, is there, I think in facilities, sometimes beyond mechanical, electrical, and plumbing space is really the entire building, is there a limit in terms of the size that you can either shoot or that the drafting team at iGUIDE is limited in certain, hundred thousand square foot, a million square foot. It just as big as you want to- - Whatever you want to do. - There's not a file size. - We've got some big properties. I mean, there are technically limits to how much data you can move around, but the real limits often come from the capture process in facility management, not the technology, it's just getting access to areas. So the answer is, yes, there probably are limits at some point. There's limits on everything, but technically no, there aren't official limits on that now. - Okay, so for anyone that's interested in architecture, in remodeling, commercial design/build, general contractors, insurance claim documentation in restoration facilities management, even beyond the residential real estate that we've been talking about, are there subject matter experts at Planitar that you can book, go to: www.GOiGUIDE.com and book a demo for that specific vertical? - Absolutely. Yeah, we've got a fantastic team here that has experts in each of those areas and can make sure that you speak with someone that understands the use case where you're going to be using the camera and how to get you up and running with it. - Okay. The PLANIX R1 Camera System was just recently announced. When does shipping begin? - 7 days. November 13, 2024 - Yeah. - Okay, so on Wednesday, November 13th, 2024. And can it be purchased today, and shipping begins then? - Pre-sales have begun and we're eager to get these things out in the mail. I think it's going to be really exciting for the whole team here. - Okay, so if you are ready to buy, you can go to: www.GOiGUIDE.com and place an order online with the shopping cart. If you still have questions, and particularly if, on a particular vertical, if it's not answered at: www.GOiGUIDE.com you can book a video chat with an iGUIDE specialist. - Absolutely. - Yep. - Marcus, Chris, thanks for being on the show today. - Thank you for having us. - Thanks for having us. - We've been visiting with iGUIDE Product Marketing Manager Chris White; and iGUIDE Manager, Product Management Marcus Doran. For Marcus and Chris, I'm Dan Smigrod, Founder of the We Get Around Network Forum and you've been watching WGAN-TV Live at 5.
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WGAN-TV Transcript | New! iGUIDE PLANIX R1 Camera System20440