Note From The Editor: This month’s issue highlights the latest examples of how the tourism industry is continuing to embrace augmented and virtual reality technology to market their products and enhance customer experience. Check out specifics of what tour operators and attractions are doing as well as how the landscape of cultural tourism is changing.
Plus.....Let’s not forget how ubiquitous 360 video is now. If you haven’t yet looked into the KODAK PIXPRO cameras that make production and posting of these on social media inexpensive, quick and effective—we suggest you do! Yes, they are partners and yes, they have “best in class” products.
Renowned Tour Company launches VR travel marketing Traveldailynews.com
Perillo Travel VR, a new company linked with world-renowned Perillo Tours, has opened with a creative focus on the rapidly growing role of Virtual Reality in selling the travel experience. The launch of the new company was announced by Steve Perillo, Chief Executive Officer, "The time is now for the introduction of this immersive, relatively new creative medium to enhance the customer’s pre-travel experience,” said Perillo. READ MORE
Intrepid Group stays ahead of the curve with Morocco and Croatia virtual reality experiences Travelweek.ca.com
The Intrepid Group has found itself ahead of the latest trend that’s taking the travel industry by storm: virtual reality. Partnering with Explor VR, Intrepid Travel and Peregrine Adventures, two brands under the Intrepid Group, have just launched VR experiences on the newly revamped app, which is free to download through Apple’s App Store as well as through Google Play. READ MORE
Augmented reality set to revolutionize US cultural tours Lonelyplanet.com
Major historic sites in the US are set to enter the virtual world for the first time ever with thanks to new augmented reality (AR) tours using smart glasses. Places like George Washington’s Mount Vernon and James Monroe’s Highland are now to be kitted out with the latest storytelling AR software from ARtGlass. READ MORE
National Museum Of Finland Offers Virtual Time Travel Vrfocus.com
A number of museums and galleries have begun to experiment with the possibilities offered by virtual reality (VR) and its related technologies, including extremely prestigious institutions such as the British Museum. The latest to join the trend is the National Museum of Finland, who are using VR to turn back to clock. With the opening of the new VR exhibit, visitors to the museum will be able to step back in time to the year 1863 by donning a VR headset and walking inside R. W. Ekman’s painting ‘The Opening of he Diet 1863 by Alexander II’. READ MORE
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Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Shows Off Its ‘Fleet’ Of Spaceships In Revamped, VR-Enabled Website Inquistr.com
Virgin Galactic has partnered with Microsoft to exhibit its efforts toward ushering in a new age of space transportation in the world. The firm has rolled out its upgraded, virtual reality (VR)-enabled website that allows visitors to experience an absorbing tour of Virgin’s state-of-the-art spaceships, including the SpaceShipTwo plane and the WhiteKnightTwo “mothership.” READ MORE
Tokyo venue offers virtual reality ‘flights’ to see the sights of Paris Japantimes.com
Fasten your seatbelts for a flight to Paris, and never leave the ground. That’s exactly what 12 passengers did at First Airlines in central Tokyo last week, relaxing in first- and business-class seats, served with four-course dinners, before immersing themselves in a 360-degree virtual reality (VR) tour of the City of Lights. At ¥6,600 ($62) — a fraction of the cost of an actual trip overseas — it’s easy to see why First Airline’s two-hour “flights” to Paris, Rome, Hawaii and New York have been fully booked since the company opened in 2016. READ MORE
Augmented Reality Adds Outer Space Scenery To NYC Rock Concert Psfk.com
The NYC band Starset, along with Juniper Jones, threw an “other-worldly” concert with augmented reality elements to enhance the experience. Concert-goers were instructed to download the Starset app, and when the time came a countdown began on each of their phones, signaling it was time to start. READ MORE
Blippar adds landmark recognition to its bag of AR tricks Mobile-ar.reality.news
Mobile augmented reality developer Blippar's mission is to construct a computer vision map the world, with visual recognition of thousands of notable buildings, bridges, castles, holy places. A major step toward that goal has been taken by the company this month with the announcement of its landmark recognition API. The API, available now via the Blippar app for iOS and Android, is capable of recognizing famous structures like the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty based on computer vision—and without the assistance of GPS. READ MORE
AND, under the heading of “WHAT A SURPRISE” there’s this:
View Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2018 in virtual reality and augmented reality i4u.com READ MORE
