Façades’ 1,3 yearlong Research to Business pre business incubator and research stage ended in 31.3. and a spin off company Windaiar Oy has been founded. Tech transfer negotiations are just about to start with Aalto University. The plan is to start pilots with domestic real estate partners and the first year target is to concentrate on customer and user acquisition and build strategic partnerships with real estate industry players.
Windaiar’s solutions are two AI/AR mobile apps for their pilot market, residential real estate. Windaiar is designing and developing an apartment listing app for real estate agents and their photographing teams and an apartment search app for apartment seekers.
The Windaiar team has trained algorithms for window detection and apartment localization. They are able to visualize precise and accurate location of the apartments in the building façade and in live outdoor AR (augmented reality) view.
With the apartment listing app the real estate agents can use this new AR marketing channel and publish apartment ads in live AR view on the top of the building facade. With the apartment search app apartment seekers are able to see available apartments in AR view on the spot.
The utilization level of outdoor AR tech in residential real estate is low. There is lack of services which would visualize the precise location of the apartment in a multistorey building. And there is no existing AR search app in the market.
Windaiar s differentiates from tech providers with high floor region localization, highly accurate window detection and apartment localization and similar building differentiation. The solution makes it possible for users to scan places themselves and to not be reliant on Google Street View. Windaiar also offers building façade image datasets, current and updated view.
What is your impact in users and customers?
Tiina Lilja: We are creating a AR community by attracting tech oriented real estate agents, agencies, new gen brokerage systems and apartment seekers. We help customers (real estate agents and real estate brokerage systems) to enhance their business. We enhance the sale/rent cycle of apartments, we offer a new AR marketing channel for apartments. We help brokerage systems to acquire new customers by attracting tech oriented and new gen agents as customers. We help users (apartment seekers) find a new home on their favorite location.
What are your Sustainable Development Goals and how will people’s lives change with your innovation?
Tiina Lilja: Creating sustainable cities and communities. In the long term we can help people to find all kinds of short cycle consumer goods, accommodation, services and products in their favorite, nearby neighborhood.
What kind of benefit and help have you gotten from Aalto Startup Center / this ecosystem?
Tiina Lilja: I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to work with the Aalto Start Up Center advisors, they have offered valuable help and advices for me. ASUC offered very useful workshops regarding market potential calculations, cap table and funding strategies, service design and design thinking. I received also advice regarding the shareholder agreement before the IP transfer negotiations.
Aalto Startup Center’s Demo Day on 8th March was an extremely good experience and networking event as we had the opportunity to pitch our R2B project and create new contacts. We met professionals and investors from different industries and with different backgrounds. I would also like to thank Aalto’s wonderful communications/marketing team. Thank you for your help during this project, I highly appreciate your great work!
Read more about Tiina and Windaiar: https://mobilecloud.aalto.fi/?page_id=1616