Our guest blogger of the day is Professor David Howard. David holds a Personal Chair in the Department of Electronics at the University of York in the United Kingdom where he teaches and researches in music technology. His main research areas are the analysis, synthesis and perception of singing, speech and music and other audio signals. David’s work involves the research and development of virtual reality and in this blog post he discusses the technology within the context of shopping for travel.
Without further ado, over to Professor Howard…
Professor Howard
The section of the Amateur-Expert Traveller report that looks at future technological innovations within the travel industry is very compelling. The concept of virtual reality has been discussed for a while now and I am not surprised – it is a compelling proposition.
Think about it: if you walk into a travel agent to book a trip to China, you may be handed a number of brochures, have hotels highlighted to you and visits you can make while you are there, but, after a while, they can all look similar! Just think what it would be like to be able to spend 5 minutes experiencing the sounds, sites and smells of your destination in a virtual world created for you. It certainly would reduce the number of disappointed customers, and it is clear from the report that the travel industry is looking forward to when this technology becomes a reality – if you forgive the pun.
This technology is just around the corner. Our work at Warwick and York Universities means that we are devising outlines for a helmet that recreates the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of far-flung destinations. This type of technology could become an invaluable tool in setting travellers’ expectations and giving them a clearer sense of what they’re buying. As consumers start to become more interested in more far-flung destinations, this will become increasingly important.
So, in the future, you and your children could experience the plains of the Serengeti as part of your geography lesson, and you will also know that each of your holidays will be exactly the once in a lifetime experience you were looking for!
- Professor David Howard, University of York
One Comment
Good post.
The fear (from the travel industry) is that VR could replace travel. This is certainly a part of the sales pitch from people like Cisco who are pushing their advanced video conferencing services as a replacement or substitute for business travel.
But I’m not so sure. Take friendships as an analogy. When the internet came along, and again when social networking came along, there was a lot of doom talked about us all becoming borg-like recluses plugged into our computers alone in a dark room. But the Pew Research Centre in America has just published a study which found quite the opposite, that “internet use in general, and use of social networking services such as Facebook in particular, are associated with more diverse social networks.”
My guess is that the same will happen with VR and travel. It will allow more people to experience more places virtually but is unlikely to reduce demand from those who want to smell the real thing.
(disclosure: I have no commercial relationship with the Pew Centre! But I do love their studies)