A Matterport virtual tour is controlled by clicking, not watching. You decide which room to move to, which direction to face, and how closely to examine any part of the space. This guide covers the main controls so you can get a proper read of a commercial property before deciding whether to book a viewing.
Moving through the space
The tour is built from scan points, shown as white circles on the floor. Click any one to move to that position. You do not need to move through rooms in sequence. Jump straight to the area you want to examine. Most tours open at the main entrance by default.
Each scan position captures a full 360-degree view. Once you are at a position, click and drag to look in any direction, or use the scroll wheel to zoom in on a specific detail. The tour is not a video. If you want to look at something for longer, it will wait.
The dollhouse view
The icon that looks like a small 3D building opens the dollhouse view: a complete exterior model of the property with the roof removed. From here you can see every floor at once, understand how the rooms connect, and click into any area directly.
For commercial tenants assessing a floor plate, the dollhouse view is usually the best starting point. It shows the overall footprint and how different parts of the building relate to each other before you navigate room by room.
The floor plan
The floor plan icon opens a 2D overhead view of each floor. Click any room on the floor plan to jump directly to a scan point inside it. This is the fastest way to check the overall layout without clicking through every position in sequence.
If you are assessing the space for a specific use, the floor plan gives you a clear picture of how the area divides: open plan versus cellular, where the core is, and where natural light enters the building.
The measurements tool
The tape measure icon opens measurement mode. Click two points in the tour to get the distance between them. Accuracy is within a few centimetres for most surfaces. Use it to check whether your furniture fits, whether column spacing works for your planned layout, or whether ceiling height meets a specific requirement.
Listings with a virtual tour generate 49% more qualified leads than listings without one. A large part of that is the measurements tool: tenants who have checked dimensions before calling have already done their due diligence, which makes those enquiries more likely to convert. For more on what drives that, see our post on whether virtual tours reduce wasted viewings.
What a virtual tour cannot tell you
The tour shows the physical space accurately. It does not capture noise levels, broadband infrastructure, the state of building services, or what the car park looks like at 8:45am on a Tuesday. A physical visit remains the right step before exchange. The tour is for qualifying the space before that visit, not replacing it.
If you are reviewing a property remotely and need to understand the layout in detail before committing to a viewing, a Matterport tour is the most efficient way to do that. For an overview of how the technology works, see what a Matterport virtual tour is and how it works.