What Is Matterport API?
Read more about and become familiarized with the concept of APIs here- where we break it down for you what it means and why you should get one for your business to stay on top of the competition by using those APIs to optimize your matterport tool.
What’s an API?
Matterport API
“API” is the golden buzzword making a splash within the tech industry these days. Their functionality knows no limits if you not only understand what it means but also learn how to maneuver them for your own benefit.
The application program interface software (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools used to build software applications by specifying how these kinds of components should work together. To put simply, an API does the job of a messenger by taking requests from the user and tells the system what you want them to do, and in return performs the desired assignment. When you put it into perspective, it is like seeing yourself at a restaurant. You order whatever meal from the menu speakers to you the most. Your server that evening then goes into the kitchen and tells the chef and his team of cooks to make your order just the way you want it. He later returns to your table with the food and you proceed to eat it. The waiter in this scenario is acting as the API – running back and forth between you and the kitchen. The cooking area was acting as the production zone where all of your applications, databases and devices connect. It delivers the food, which is really the data and connectivity that you wish to eat (i.e. create your product).
Benefits of an API
Matterport API
Now that you have a better understanding of what an API is and how it functions, the next step is to fully comprehend what an application program interface tool considers. It focuses on the provider (which is the API creator) as well as the user (or the API integrator). By accepting this information as true, you have now a more clear understanding of all the advantages an API system has to offer.
The first identifier of an exceptional API is one that helps you assemble a foundation. You can use APIs as building blocks for your product. The perfect example of this is Lyft – the ridesharing company that presents its service through a phone app. They use one API to handle payments, another one to communicate with the riders via text message, and a third API to locate the person conducting the vehicle. The second benefit is the saving of your resources. Choosing to integrate APIs into your business spares you time and money (i.e. engineering hours) that otherwise would have been spent on making something that served the same purpose. This allows you to offer customers a new experience while using what is already available and they have become familiarized with. The third benefit of implementing APIs into your product is that it helps the company build focus on its core offerings. Doing so leaves the secondary features to brands that were made specifically to prioritize those other aspects of their products/services. Moving forward we can also see how easy and effective it is to do maintenance with an API. If something were to happen to your software, dedicated personnel will immediately be on the case to fix any hiccups on your account so that the API customer is not further affected. This maximises the API’s functionality “uptime” which matters a lot for the business to properly operate. And last but not least, optimizing matterport through an API allows your customers, from a business perspective, to tailor your software to innovate at their desired pace. This high level of flexibility gives them the freedom to build the exact solution that they are looking for today instead of having to wait for the release of the software’s next updated version.
With a better idea of what an API brings to the table and its value, how, you may ask, can we know what kind of API can optimize your matterport software and correctly apply it to your product now?
What Makes an Excellent API
Matterport API
The feelings of familiarity, security, and reliability should all be attributed to how a well-developed API works. Other elements to take into account are choosing the kind of API that adopts adaptability, super documentation, and support for developers. Opportunities to test and the availability of SDKs in multiple languages are also things to look out for.
To begin with, customization is vital if you were already planning on integrating an API in your platform or product/service. APIS are all there to improve the quality of that same product/service, so it is of major importance to make sure it allows you to keep your product service experience consistent instead of looking out of place; this will gain you a bad reputation in the eyes of the customer if you do not learn how to best adapt. Next is the advantage of a superior documentation system. Your developer will be so grateful for a clear documentation for the API, which in essence is the basic manual guide for APIs. This would include everything being easy to read, smooth to interpret, and painless to integrate. You have to remember to include as many details as possible during this step, such as incorporating straightforward directions and great code examples, to deliver positive results faster. Later comes the support for the people behind this whole thing. Nothing is more frustrating than running into trouble with your software and having nobody close by available to ask for help. Developers have the same obstacles, thus, having a helpful,developer-specific support team throughout API makes a huge difference. Also included amongst features to look for are opportunities to test it out beforehand. In order to properly get a feel for the product or service and experiment with the code, it comes in handy to have the right testing tools available closeby for your software engineers to use. These tools may consist of a free test mode, an API dashboard and/or a testing sandbox environment(s). Finally, the more software development kits (SDKs) an API can give to you, the higher the chances of an API speaking the same language your company programs do. This will ensure a quicker and easier to get a functional integration system and optimize your matter potter through an API.
The SDK permits its user to customize and improve the experience around Showcase, which is the WebGL application that follows one’s navigation through matterport 3D spacing in a web browser. For instance, using the SDK commands on a webpage, the tour can be improved by adding navigation elements like an interactive minimap or controlling the camera, among others.
How to Use the Matterport API
Matterport API
The developer community represents a group of professionals in the industry who wish to integrate the matterport tool in their everyday work-related activities. An API platform should be available to all engineers, architects, and other professionals that want to learn from this system. A developer toolset is not there for them to directly connect to Matterport’s back-end data store, while at the same time enabling their customers to act on their models programmatically. From directly accessing data to making slight alterations to the content, and from managing a model’s status to purchasing value-added services, this will allow developers to gain full control over the whole process. Matterport offers API and SDK developer tools to enhance matterport spaces and data available. Key use cases for these include: an automation workflow, the extension and customization of a 3D player, and the creation of derived assets and new services. Not to mention, there is the integration of matterporter into a third party software, API, and other solutions.
What is Matterport, Its Costs and Why Develop with It
For starters, the matterport stage is the largest library of 3D spaces. It is the fastest growing source of 3D spatial data with a library that contains well over 4 million spaces; these have been viewed more than 1 billion times – the largest and most utilized in the tech world. Secondly, it is built on top of real world spaces. Matterport is in essence a 3D data platform that is trusted by thousands of business users on a global scale to securely store and manage 3D digital prints of their properties. Next, the optimization of matterport through APIs and SDK help build custom applications. This translates into customized client experiences on top of available matterport spaces. It further monetizes your skills by building industry-specific or value-added applications and services that can be featured in their core offering packaging.
Lastly the usage of both APIs and SDK can make any application process matterport efficient, cost-effective and time-conscious. And how much can one charge for a matterport virtual tour optimized through API? The answer to this question actually varies for every virtual content company out there. On average, the standard cost for a matterport virtual tour is about $300. However, if you were to shoot a small location of, let’s say, 800 sq ft studio or a bigger facility of 300,000 sq ft, you would have to adjust your prices. Charging too much or too little can be a waste of time, money, and people.
Here at Momentum 360, we have come up with a pricing model that has been used by our team members since forever and works wonders for our clients as well! The formulas are as follows:
Pricing Model = $300 + 10% of Sq Ft
Hosting Fee (Any Industry Other Than Real Estate) = $10/month
Another thing to take into consideration is the base fee. Before we start thinking about square footage, which is where you make the big money, a base rate for sending your designated photographer to take and later edit the pictures. You must remember that we are dealing with virtual technology here and no matter how much you like your clients, you must charge the appropriate premium for this kind of service. You can optimize the matterport api and its related content to match the needs of your loyal customers. It does not matter if they are in the real estate, retail or restaurant business, this will help them be better and you will be awarded as such!
We settled on a $300 base fee because we think it is a fair starting rate. We give them beyond quality work that is received the same day as the order was placed, no excuses. People need what they paid for today, as waiting until the next day or more can change the story. This same day guarantee has been proven successful in the past as we have ween businesses come to us and maintain a loyal partnership with the company. We expect it to stay strong in the future. So if you are willing to invest in Momentum and a partnership that keeps on giving with time, we will literally work to give momentum back and put your brand to the next level.
The process of hosting is a little tricky. For our owners, they have already debated with and answered the question of changing for hosting or not. We broke it out for them like this: when it comes to real estate, there is no need to change to hosting because these properties will only need our services for a temporary period, which usually does not go past the 6-month-markup. For all the other industries, they tend to request these tours for a longer period of time. That is why Momentum 360 collects $10 every month in hosting fees for every tour. This allows for our employees to go in and change their virtual tour whenever they need not… and not for free!
And other than learning how much to actually charge for a matterport virtual tour, it would be a good idea to try to understand how to optimize your matterport with the help of an API to deliver even better results. One of our company’s directors, Sean Boyle, has prepared a special blog for anyone who would like to be better informed in a well-made video tutorial about this topic.
Case Studies
REA Group is a global online real estate advertising company with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. The company recently partnered with Matterport and DiUS to develop a VR app that would showcase properties with the help of Matterport 3D scans. With this application, customers can virtually walk through the properties on the company’s public website. They have already reported a 400% month-over-month increase in downloads in the past quarter by optimizing their matterport software’s API. REA Group anticipates further growth as more and more realtors are adopting the Matterport software when they list their properties for sale on the internet. This is Australia’s first virtual tour app.