A COMPUTER games designer from the North-East has developed a virtual reality programme to allow people to look around prospective properties using their computers or mobile phones.

Entrepreneur Richard Coates hopes his software will initially be snapped up by house builders hoping to sell second homes to businessmen abroad.

But the technology could also be used to allow people to ‘see’ homes for sale on the domestic property market.

Using 3D graphics, it gives people a sense of the space and dimensions and even allows people to change the decor without even stepping foot inside, or picking up a paintbrush.

The programme works best when used with Oculus and Samsung headset that give the viewer the feeling of actually being in the room, but can also be used on computer screens, mobile phones and tablets.

Mr Coates, 37, from Bournmoor, near Chester-le-Street, County Durham, said: “We are talking to a lot of people who think they have seen it before, until they put what we have developed on their head then a smile appears on everyone’s face after a few seconds.

“You become immersed in the experience and people go ‘wow’.

“It is like being in a different room completely. It goes back to Star Trek where you have a holodeck and you can push a button and you are in a desert.”

Mr Coates, a father-of-two, who now lives at Springwell Village, has a design marketing degree from Teesside University.

He set up Neutron VR, which is based in Newcastle, with his friend Dinesh Kumar, a software engineer, after he was made redundant as a computer games designer from Eutechnyx in Gateshead last year.

Mr Coates has already patented his design for the My New Homes app and is talking to house builders about using it as part of their marketing strategy.

The firm is also working with McDonalds on software that helps franchisees chose their layout and design of their store as well as similar package for new hotel lobbies.

Other work includes virtual reality programmes to create real life situations for management training and market research that allows companies to record what attracts people attention in a virtual retail environment.

Mr Coates added: “Our background in the games industry has given us a unique set of skills that not a lot of people have.

“We have brought that across from gaming to be used in a commercial enterprise and the speed of the software and how it reacts to what people look at is what makes it unique.”

Mr Coates is currently looking for more software programmers to join his team at the Quayside.

Anyone interested should contact him at richard.coates@neutronvr.com