Editor's Note: Today's blog features Takumi Yoshida and Yoshihiko Tochinai of STYLE PORT Inc. They’ve developed the groundbreaking digital twin service, ROOV, under the mission of “eliminating regret from every space choice,” helping to bridge the information gap in real estate. Last year, they leveraged Google Maps Platform, Photorealistic 3D Tiles, to launch their most advanced service, ROOV.space, exploring not only their own business potential but also that of the real estate industry as a whole.
Bridging the information gap and helping buyers make more confident decisions
STYLE PORT Inc. was established in October 2017 and has achieved rapid growth by providing the advanced 3D communication platform “ROOV.” In April 2019, the company launched “ROOV walk,” which recreates pre-construction condominiums as digital twins, creating virtual reality (VR) experiences of interiors viewable through the web.
Takumi Yoshida, who has led ROOV's development as product manager since the company’s founding, explains the background: “Our mission has been ‘eliminating regret from every space choice.’ I’ve experienced this myself. When purchasing a new condominium, we often end up making a costly decision without seeing the actual property, relying only on brochures, blueprints, and computer graphics perspectives. Model rooms are provided, but because only a small number of showcase units are selected, they’re not very informative. ROOV walk solves this problem by recreating buildings that do not yet exist in high-precision 3D CG. With ROOV walk, buyers can see the interior realistically while changing the wallpaper or checking the view.”
Takumi Yoshida, Product Manager, STYLE PORT
Improving satisfaction for both condominium buyers and sellers
ROOV walk has provided convenience and peace of mind to condominium buyers. Meanwhile, Yoshihiko Tochinai, chief strategy officer, explains that it has also brought significant benefits to sellers.
“The new condominium market in Japan today is worth approximately 4 trillion yen, with hundreds of billions spent annually on brochures and model room production,” he says. “These marketing costs don’t directly enhance property value. Moreover, with soaring construction, material, and labor costs, cost reduction has become an urgent priority. With ROOV walk, we can dramatically reduce these costs while delivering more satisfying marketing and presentations.”
In 2020, STYLE PORT released “ROOV compass,” a housing sales support platform. This became the foundation for driving digital transformation (DX) in sales activities.
“ROOV compass aggregates and systematically leverages all related information — from basic blueprints, room plans, floor maps, and options to surrounding area maps, loan simulations, and sales appointment scheduling,” Tochinai says. “Thanks to being a web-based platform, it also analyzes customer access logs to provide the most important behavioral data in the optimal format. While simply providing static information based on customer requests was already a common practice, ROOV compass makes it possible to analyze customer needs in a scientific way and deliver the most effective sales approaches and proposals.”
Yoshihiko Tochinai, Chief Strategy Officer, Management Group, STYLE PORT
Expanding high-definition immersive 3D environments further
ROOV has gained industry support as a 3D CG interior viewing service for new condominium developments, adopted by over 130 companies and more than 900 projects (as of July 2025). In April 2024, STYLE PORT announced “ROOV.space,” expanding its digitally recreated 3D digital twins to encompass surrounding areas and even urban cityscapes. Just one month later, it attracted significant attention with its first adoption in the large-scale mixed-use development “BLUE FRONT SHIBAURA (Shibaura Project),” a designated project under the National Strategic Special Zone Plan.
“Our services have evolved around two pillars: ROOV walk and ROOV compass,” Yoshida says. “With ROOV.space, however, you can realistically grasp the exterior appearance and surrounding landscape, including buildings yet to be completed. Furthermore, diverse data — such as transportation access, living environment, and future regional development plans — can be linked to the web-based 3D model and overlaid for display according to various purposes.”
Why Google Maps Platform Photorealistic 3D Tiles was the answer
Google Maps Platform APIs power ROOV's product suite centered around ROOV walk, ROOV compass, and ROOV.space. The Maps JavaScript API displays maps, the Places API retrieves detailed location information, and the Geocoding API converts entered addresses into latitude/longitude data. ROOV.space specifically utilizes Photorealistic 3D Tiles. This feature enables the functional enhancements Yoshida had envisioned.
“Starting around mid-2023, we began receiving more requests to recreate entire building exteriors in 3D CG in addition to interior views provided by ROOV walk,” he explains. “Achieving this required high-definition, 3D-compatible map data that was also loaded quickly. During development, we were impressed by its technical capabilities and ease of collaboration. The Google Maps Platform API is exceptionally well-designed, requiring no special development work. Likewise, whenever we made an inquiry to raise the API limit, we received a response from a Google engineer within 30 to 60 minutes, allowing us to resolve issues smoothly. We were truly amazed by the speed and attentiveness of their support — it was an unprecedented developer experience.”
Bird's-Eye View
View from High Floors
Overlay of Railway Maps
Hazard Map
Exploring possibilities across the real estate industry globally
ROOV’s services are now becoming the new standard in Japan’s real estate industry. This includes adoption in large-scale projects attracting industry-wide attention and in high-end condominium construction projects. ROOV is also gaining recognition overseas, being adopted in development projects in the Philippines and Malaysia. Tochinai expresses strong ambitions not only for horizontal business expansion, but also vertical expansion across the entire value chain.
“Recently, we’ve also been commissioned for tasks in the upstream planning stages of construction projects, such as creating CG perspectives and videos,” he explains. “Consequently, our ‘ROOV check’ service — which uses our 3D data as a standard for checking back various deliverables — is also seeing increased usage. Beyond new condominiums and the housing market, the real estate industry encompasses vast opportunities in developing larger-scale facilities like logistics centers, commercial complexes, offices, and arenas.”
Yoshida concludes by highlighting ROOV's underlying technical potential, discussing further collaboration with Google Maps Platform, and outlining future business expansion.
“We believe ROOV’s development has contributed to democratizing 3D technology and expanding its adoption. We’re now advancing marketing initiatives and product development based on accumulated data, as well as projects utilizing generative AI,” he says. “Ultimately, we aim for these efforts to enhance end-user convenience. In that regard, I deeply resonate with the corporate approach from Google. For instance, the areas covered by Google Maps and the solutions it provides will only expand in the future — they will never shrink. This sense of security and future potential is its greatest appeal. I sincerely hope Google continues to lead the way. Our company will also leverage Google Maps and Google Maps Platform to further enhance ROOV's appeal and expand new value and possibilities in the real estate business.”
