Podcast: Play in new window | Download
What do video games and homebuilding have in common? More than you might think!
Thomas Holt spent years creating visuals for major video games before turning his attention to residential construction. Today, he helps companies rethink the way they design, sell and build homes through artificial intelligence (AI). Holt, co-founder and vice president of visualization at Higharc, joined host Carol Morgan on Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio to discuss spatial AI, the future of new home sales and why technology could dramatically speed up the way the industry brings new products to market.
From Video Games to Real-World Construction
Holt’s background in video game development may seem like an unlikely path to homebuilding, but he sees an important distinction between the two.
“In games, you’re inventing a world, and the only rule is that it has to feel right,” Holt said.
A house has a lot more rules. Every wall has a cost, windows have requirements and design decisions affect framing, permitting and construction. Ultimately, there’s also a homebuyer counting on the finished product to work as intended. For Higharc, that means creating a digital model that accounts for more than what a home looks like. The platform connects information across the design, sales, estimating and construction processes.
Ending the “Game of Telephone”
One of the biggest challenges in residential construction is not necessarily creating information. It’s keeping that information consistent as it moves through an organization. CAD drawings, for example, are essentially representations of a building. A line might indicate a wall, but the line itself doesn’t represent what a wall is. That becomes an issue when the file moves from design to estimating, sales and construction. Each team may have to interpret the information and enter it into another system.
Holt compared the process to a game of telephone.
“Every one of those handoffs is a different chance for the versions to kind of drift,” he said.
By the time those differences reach the field, they can show up as change orders, material overages, delays and other expensive mistakes. A shared digital model gives each department access to the same underlying information, reducing the need to translate it over and over again.
Why Spatial AI Is Different From Generative AI
Generative AI has become remarkably good at producing things that look and sound convincing. But convincing isn’t necessarily the same as correct. An AI-generated floor plan might be perfectly useful as inspiration. It’s a different story when someone needs to estimate materials or send the plan to a job site. Spatial AI is designed to understand the relationships between elements in a building. A wall isn’t simply a line. It is a wall with characteristics and construction implications. The same applies to windows, kitchens, rooms and other components. That context allows the technology to produce information that can support the actual building process.
A More Interactive Way to Shop for a New Home
Consumers have become accustomed to customizing products online. They can build a car, change a pair of sneakers or configure a computer before making a purchase. A house is considerably more complicated. There can be an enormous number of possible combinations, and changing one element can affect several others. Historically, giving buyers that level of choice has required a lot of manual work behind the scenes.
Higharc’s web-based showroom is designed to make the experience more seamless. Buyers can explore 3D floor plans, change structural options and swap exterior collections while seeing those choices update on screen. The experience can also incorporate real manufacturer products and builder-controlled pricing. The bigger advantage is what happens behind the scenes. Because the experience is connected to the same underlying information used throughout the process, changes can stay aligned with what the company is actually selling and building.
For buyers, that means more freedom to explore. For sales teams, it means less work trying to keep countless combinations straight.
AI Could Give Homebuilding Teams More Time
Holt doesn’t see AI completely replacing most jobs. Instead, he expects it to change how people spend their time.
“I think everybody’s job in some way is going to improve,” Holt said.
That could be particularly valuable in an industry that continues to face labor shortages. Rather than eliminating people, technology can help teams spend less time on repetitive tasks and more time on work that requires experience and expertise. The same principle could extend to the job site. Holt expects technology to improve access to information, quality control, analytics and other tools that help tradespeople and field teams do their work more effectively.
Higharc Expands Its Reach With $95 Million Funding Round
Higharc recently raised $95 million in a Series C funding round led by Insight Partners. The investment will support two major priorities: accelerating the company’s AI product development and expanding the platform beyond builders into the broader housing industry. For smaller companies, the appeal may be the ability to offer buyers sophisticated 3D sales and marketing experiences. Larger organizations can benefit from bringing more consistency to complex product lines, options and processes.
The Future Could Be Faster Home Design
Creating a new plan or adapting an existing one for a different community can take months. That makes experimentation expensive and can discourage companies from making frequent changes.
Holt believes AI could dramatically shorten that process.
“I think where AI will take us is to a point where plans can get generated and validated in hours instead of months,” he said.
That would give companies more room to test ideas, adapt designs to individual markets and respond to what buyers actually want. In some ways, the future could mean products are tested and refined continuously rather than treated as finished once they reach the market.
Listen to the full episode of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio for more insights from Holt on spatial AI, the homebuying experience, the future of product development and how technology could reshape the homebuilding industry. For more information about Higharc, visit Higharc.com.
About Higharc
Higharc is a homebuilding technology company helping builders move from design to construction with a connected digital platform. Its tools bring together home design, configuration, 3D sales, estimating and construction documents, allowing teams to work from the same underlying data.
Podcast Thanks
Thank you to Denim Marketing for sponsoring Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio. Known as a trendsetter, Denim Marketing has been blogging since 2006 and podcasting since 2011. Contact them when you need quality, original content for social media, public relations, blogging, email marketing and promotions. A comfortable fit for companies of all shapes and sizes, Denim Marketing understands marketing strategies are not one-size-fits-all. The agency works with your company to create a perfectly tailored marketing strategy that will suit your needs and niche. Try Denim Marketing on for size by calling 770-383-3360 or by visiting www.DenimMarketing.com.
About Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio
Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio, presented by Denim Marketing, highlights the movers and shakers in the Atlanta real estate industry – the home builders, developers, Realtors and suppliers working to provide the American dream for Atlantans. For more information on how you can be featured as a guest, contact Denim Marketing at 770-383-3360 or fill out the Atlanta Real Estate Forum contact form. Subscribe to the Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio podcast on iTunes, and if you like this week’s show, be sure to rate it. Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio was recently honored on FeedSpot’s Top 100 Atlanta Podcasts, ranking 11th overall and number one out of all ranked real estate podcasts.
