Immersive 3D Real Estate Using Google Maps and Unreal Engine

Explore properties virtually with our 3D visualization product suite powered by Google Maps and Unreal Engine, and immerse yourself in a real-world experience of your future home and its location.

Comment

Inspiration

We wanted to change the way people explore real estate. Just looking at pictures isn’t enough anymore. We believed that a realistic 3D experience would make things clearer and help buyers make faster decisions.

What it does

This project lets people explore a property in immersive 3D, before it’s even built. Users can walk through each unit, check out nearby landmarks, and experience the surroundings in real-time, even seeing how the property looks at different times of day. We used Google Maps to accurately place the building in its real-world context, while Unreal Engine brought it to life with high-quality visuals.

How we built it

We built an immersive 3D property experience using Unreal Engine and Google Maps’ 3D Tiles, powered through Cesium’s plugin. The experience allows users to walk through each unit, explore amenities, and view nearby landmarks, all placed within a realistic city environment. We used satellite and terrain data to recreate the surroundings and masked out existing buildings to accurately place our 3D model. To make this accessible beyond high-performance systems, we also developed a Weblite version that brings the same immersive experience to regular devices. Additionally, we integrated the Google Places API to showcase nearby points of interest like schools and hospitals, and the Google Routes API to visualize real-world connectivity to key landmarks.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was that Google’s route data wasn’t built for Unreal Engine. We solved this by writing custom scripts to convert it into a usable format. Another issue was the heavy load from high-detail 3D Tiles, which made performance and cloud costs a concern. To fix this, we built a smart caching system. Since the integration of Cesium and Google Maps was still new, we had to figure out a lot as we went.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  1. First-ever integration of Google’s photorealistic 3D Tiles within Unreal Engine.
  2. Built a fully immersive landmark and routing system, letting users see real-world travel paths from the property to nearby locations.
  3. Seamlessly bridged Google’s ecosystem with a real-time rendering engine, creating an experience that works on both desktop and web.
  4. Developed a Weblite version to make the experience more accessible across all device types, without compromising visual clarity.

What we learned

  1. Working with tools not originally meant to function together pushes you to innovate, we learnt how to convert and adapt data across platforms.
  2. Optimizing performance for the web while maintaining visual fidelity is key for wide-scale adoption.
  3. Immersive real estate experiences rely on more than just graphics, they need real-world data, intuitive navigation, and smart backend systems to truly work.

What's next for Immersive 3D Real Estate Using Google Maps and Unreal Engine

Immersive 3D real estate is no longer just a vision, it’s becoming the new standard. With platforms like Google Maps providing real-world data and engines like Unreal delivering high-fidelity visuals, the way people explore properties is transforming. In the future, virtual site visits could become the default, offering global reach, faster decision-making, and a far deeper understanding of a property, all from the comfort of home.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates