Digital traveling : Can we travel without traveling?
Many of us are making summer travel plans, but if you are not quite ready to take the plunge. How about a trip around the world without setting foot out the door?
If you like the idea of traveling on exploration but would rather do it from the comfort of your own home, virtual reality might be your perfect weekend getaway whether climbing Mount Everest or diving deep beneath the ocean. This futuristic way to travel will take you where few have gone before. Thus, the majority prefer to experience real things.
What is virtual reality ?
Virtual reality (VR) typically refers to a computer technology that simulates the physical presence of a user in an artificially generated environment by software. Virtual reality creates an environment with which the user can interact. It is one of the recent technological innovations that will shape the future of the travel industry. Experiencing a journey in a virtual world is a practice that will become increasingly popular in the coming years. The challenge is to understand how this technology can effectively shape the brand experience of a travel destination, and to identify the secret sauce for it to respond to behavioral intent.
Which apps for digital traveling ?
Firstly, Google Earth VR is an app that takes all the data from Earth, which is 3D models of a large portion of the earth’s surface and puts it in an interactive experience that let you choose any location you’d like to explore. Secondly, Boulevard, if you are the kind of person who likes to visit museums and galleries on a trip. This app brings a whole collection of museums and art galleries to you. Thirdly, Everest VR, this app will get you to the top of Everest mount with its high fidelity first-person experience, you begin by preparing for your expedition at the Basecamp traverse through the Khumbu Icefall and finally reach the summit where you can activate something called a god mode that offers a unique vantage point of the Himalayas. There are more interesting apps like theblu for you to experience diving deep beneath the ocean.
Virtual traveling in the age of the coronavirus pandemic …
”The impact of Covid-19 may have allowed VR to somewhat shake off its image of being a gimmick in tourism,” said Ralph Hollister, a tourism analyst at Global Data and author of a report on VR’s applications in tourism. In fact, almost the entire world has suffered from an unexpected disruptive pandemic that has upended our economy and way of life. Millions of people were sheltering at home, those going outside were wearing masks and maintaining social distance. The last thing, people were thinking about doing was traveling. While the pandemic was raging, Virtual reality offered hundreds and millions of people the solace enjoyment, and edification of experiencing the world’s greatest places.
Real-world travel vs virtual traveling…
As a travel enthusiast and a business developer in a VR company, I think that virtual worlds cannot, and are not intended to, replace the experience of real-world travel, but Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are primary elements in keeping interest in destinations, especially monuments and museums. These technologies could help in getting potential customers excited about new cultures and new places and providing inspiration for real-world travel. Moreover, specialists were talking about how the pandemic is going to be the chance for VR to become a valid form of alternative travel as consumers get more used to this technology. But from my point of view, VR is a great tool for marketing but it can’t and it will not be an alternative for traveling especially with the huge number of travel bloggers on social media. According to Statista, 36.5% of people use social media for travel inspiration, and 60% share photos on social media while traveling.
#VR # AR #Travel #digitaltraveling #Metaverse #travelbloggers
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About the author: You can find out more about Hind LOUGHLIMI on her LinkedIn profile and you can also follow her on Twitter,
About this article
This article has been written by a student on the Grenoble Ecole de Management’s Advanced Masters in Digital Strategy Management. As part of a content creation assignment, students are given the task of writing articles based on their digital interests and disseminate the articles online. Articles are marked but we make minimal changes to the content. Thanks for reading! James Barisic, Programme Director, MS DSM.
