VR and AR in the Travel Industry
Tourism is a sector focused not only on selling tours and hotel bookings but, above all, on the idea of spending free time and triggering emotions. These factors most often decide that we choose a particular place, and then when we return from our holidays, we either immediately forget about them, or remember all the attractions well and eagerly share our stories with everyone. So if our intention is to play on our emotions and awaken the full potential of our imagination, we should not hesitate to use cutting edge technologies. We can achieve this with the help of virtual and augmented reality. How is that possible? Here you can have a look at some interesting ideas.
Virtual Honeymoon in Marriott
A great example of the use of virtual reality to encourage people to travel was the Marriott event in front of the entrance to the New York City Hall where every day over 100 couples get married. Newlyweds were invited to take part in a virtual tour of Marriott hotels located in London and Hawaii, allowing them to experience how it is like to stay in those places. Judging by the reactions, many people taking part in this attraction were tempted to make a real trip. Which hotels do you think they might choose?
Check out your plane before the trip
What is more, it is important to know how we are going to travel. In this case we can also use new technologies to see with our own eyes example the differences between an economy class ticket and a business class ticket. This type of video shot in 360 degrees will surely help us make our decision.
Guided ride
Before we decide on a specific to spend our holidays, we probably would like to know as much about it as possible in order to choose the best attractions and prepare ourselves well for the trip. So far, we have been using guides for this or have been browsing the internet forums with such a purpose, and now we can take a pre-tour of the city – and, what is more, with a buddy. This way we can visit eg Amsterdam. MojoApps AR & VR Studio will be glad to make a similar guide about a chosen Polish city. Which one would be the best choice?
Virtual tours
Virtual reality and augmented reality are also used by developers and real estate agencies that want to sell or rent a particular apartment. In this case the potential customers do not have to physically visit the places they consider buying, but they take a virtual walk inside of them, learning the room layout, seeing the furniture and the view from the window. With VR technology we can now explore a few places without the necessity to move anywhere. Now it is possible to see any interior, seated in our favourite seat and being at the other end of the city, country… or anywhere else. The future is here.
Adventures on a paradise island
An what about experiencing something more exotic? Among the various types of this type of production, attention should be paid to 360-degree video commissioned by Australian Quantas, which presents Hamilton Island. Apparently, we were not the only people who enjoyed watching it as it has more than 3.4 million views. Such a project sparks our imagination way better than the best advertising folder possible.
See more with your smartphone
While virtual reality is a great tool to promote specific destinations, allowing potential travelers to absorb the atmosphere of the place and influence their decision, extended reality works best when the traveler actually arrives. With the right applications, he or she can learn, see and remember much more than during a standard tour. For instance, this works great when visiting a museum.
AR as a tourist attraction
Expanded reality can also be a great attraction itself and an experience remembered by tourists visiting the city. Examples? The event organised by National Geographic i.a. at Rotterdam Central Station, which gave its visitors an opportunity to find themselves in another world shortly after leaving the train. Thanks to this, the visitors will always associate the place with pleasant momories.
An addition to tourist applications
Many tourists use apps to share information about the places of interest, restaurants, hotels, etc. More and more producers also use augmented reality to show the choice of attractions in much more interesting way. All you have to do is take a look at the world using your tablet or smartphone and you will immediately see some interesting places and tour tips on the screen.
An exceptional trip in time
Of course, you can create a separate application dedicated to a specific place or project. An interesting example might be the application created a few years ago for the Warsaw Rising Museum. Thanks to this app, users could make a special kind of journey while visiting historic sites and feel what it was like to be in those places during the Second World War.
IKEA at your home
Changing clothes in VR is fun, but frankly speaking it is not a big problem when visiting a store in real. In turn, it is completely different when we wish to ‘try on’ a piece of furniture at our own house. IKEA decided to meet this expectations and thanks to a AR application we have the opportunity to check whether a particular sofa will fit in the living room or if a table will fit into the dining room.