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Marriott hotels may have "teleporters" but augmented reality on your smartphone could be the way of the future. Marriott hotels may have "teleporters" but augmented reality on your smartphone could be the way of the future.
If your idea of a holiday is spending 10 minutes in an octagonal box with a pair of blacked-out glasses on, a Marriott hotel could be your ideal destination. Last month the global chain launched a new toy to tempt guests: an immersive 4-D virtual reality travel experience in which participants don a pair of Oculus Rift spectacles before being transported to other destinations (and other Marriott hotels, naturally) such as Hawaii, London and San Francisco. But while such teleporters may be little more than expensive gimmicks (the CGI was produced by the team behind hit film Gravity, so no expense was spared there) it is part of a growing desire within the travel industry to experiment with virtual and augmented reality. “Augmented reality is where the real future lies,” said Professor Dimitrios Buhalis, director of the e-tourism lab at Bournemouth University. “Information will be projected in front of you – using things like Google Glass – as you travel around. It will allow you to customise your experiences based on your needs. For example, if you are with someone who is disabled, you could find step-free routes through a town. Then we will see elements of gamification, where you will be playing games or interacting with elements of your environment as you go.” |
