3D Walkthrough in the Browser: AR and VR Without an App

What we learned building SEYR: a 3D walkthrough that opens from one link on laptop, phone, AR and VR, with model prep, adaptive quality and pinned comments.

· 4 min

Selling a home that has not been built yet usually means renders and a PDF. Buyers look at a few still images and try to imagine the rest: how big the living room really is, what the kitchen sees, how the light falls in the afternoon.

We are BernSoftware, a small software studio in Istanbul. We built SEYR so that people can walk through a space instead of imagining it. It started with architecture (SEYR Residence) and the same foundation now runs SEYR Yacht and SEYR Camper. Here is what we learned along the way.

1. No app install, or nobody opens it

The single most important decision was that a client should only need a link. Asking a buyer to download an app, create an account and wait for a large file is where most 3D presentations quietly die.

So one published project opens in a desktop browser, on a phone, in augmented reality and in compatible VR headsets. On Android, AR runs in the browser. On iPhone, the model opens in Apple's Quick Look. VR uses WebXR, so a headset's own browser is enough.

2. Preparing the model is most of the work

An architectural model built for rendering is not a model built for the web. It has too many polygons, textures that are far too large and materials that only make sense inside a rendering engine.

Every SEYR project goes through the same three steps:

  1. Prepare. The model, textures and scene settings are optimised for the web.
  2. Publish. The approved version is uploaded to a secure project space.
  3. Present. The client opens the link, walks through the space, measures, comments and decides.

Treating "prepare" as a real step with its own checklist, instead of an export button, is what makes the rest feel fast.

3. Quality has to adapt to the device

A new laptop, a three-year-old phone and a standalone headset do not have the same budget. Rather than shipping one heavy version and hoping, the viewer adapts image quality to the device and offers touch controls on mobile. A slightly softer image that moves smoothly beats a sharp one that stutters, especially in VR, where stutter makes people feel unwell.

4. Tools matter more than polish

Once people can walk around, they immediately want to do things:

  • Measure from point to point.
  • Cut sections by floor height to understand a level.
  • Pin comments directly to a spot in the scene instead of describing it in an email.
  • Compare floor plans and material choices.

Comments pinned to the scene turned out to be the feature that changes how architects and clients work together. "The wall behind the sofa" is ambiguous in an email; a pin on that wall is not. Revisions and approvals follow from the same pins.

5. Sharing needs access control

Unbuilt projects are commercially sensitive. Every project lives in a workspace for the firm, and share links are access-controlled, so a developer can send one buyer one project without exposing the rest. For guided presentations, a salesperson can walk the client through the space live.

6. The same foundation works beyond buildings

Once the pipeline existed for buildings, other spaces were a natural next step.

SEYR Yacht is for shipyards, yacht designers and brokers: three decks and seven viewpoints, material and daylight options, WebXR VR, Android AR and iOS Quick Look, plus QR codes and saved views for sharing at boat shows.

SEYR Camper is a real-time configurator for camper manufacturers and their customers: three models with interior layouts, colours, materials and equipment, live price and weight calculation, interior and VR tours, and shareable configurations that turn into quote requests.

The lesson: the hard part was never one particular building or boat. It was the pipeline (prepare, publish, present) and the tools people use once they are inside.

Closing thought

If you sell space, whether an apartment, a yacht, a hotel room or a camper, the best way to explain it is to let people walk through it. The technology to do that from a single link is ready; most of the work is in preparing the content well and giving people simple tools once they are inside.

You can try a live example at seyr.bernsoftware.com.

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