Real estate platform Zillow has unveiled Virtual Staging, an AI tool that lets buyers redesign listing photos in real time. The feature, integrated into Zillow's Showcase platform, allows users to digitally furnish empty rooms or restyle furnished ones using seven design aesthetics — modern, Scandinavian, industrial, midcentury, luxury, coastal and farmhouse — to more closely match their personal taste.

Virtual staging addresses one of real estate's most persistent psychological barriers: helping buyers connect with properties by seeing beyond current décor or vacant rooms. While the tool doesn't offer major makeovers, it does transform house-hunting from passive browsing into active experimentation. Potential buyers can instantly test different furniture arrangements and design styles with a simple tap.

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Like every other type of commerce, home shopping is becoming immersive play. By allowing potential buyers to experiment and personalize spaces in real time, house-hunting is transformed into something closer to interior design gaming, where the cognitive barrier of "I can't see myself living here" dissolves through instant visualization.

We're witnessing the same consumer expectations that drive TikTok fashion try-ons and AI-powered makeup tests now reshaping real estate. When imagination becomes interactive and nearly tangible, emotional attachment follows — and deals are closed.