Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality: Your contribution to tourism and entertainment
Science has given us breakthroughs that we still don't fully enjoy
The lives of people around the world were severely affected by the pandemic: restricted departures, distancing, limited travel and other measures that greatly affected tourism and entertainment.
Activities that we use to recreate ourselves but also to "recharge", rest from work / study, something really necessary in our cycle.
Fortunately, some innovations in the digital world have helped us to cope with this reality, and although they existed since before the pandemic, it has been in this situation where they became most notable, for providing us with a solution to the limitations mentioned above.
Virtual reality and aumented reality came to the rescue of humanity.
If I tell you that you can visit a museum and enjoy all its works from your home, even that you can visit all the restaurants in a city and look at the appearance of their dishes without leaving the hotel to save time and optimize your vacation, would you believe it? If the answer is no, you will love to know these fun and useful applications of this technology in our life.
What is the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality?
The concepts are often confused but are clearly distinguishable.
Virtual reality
It is when we put glasses on at home and without going out, we can see ourselves crossing the corridor of a museum or a park, we move forward and look at the works closely.
It is an imaginary world built entirely to mimic this experience in our mind.
Augmented reality
It is about taking the real world as a basis and from the effect of this technology, looking at elements that are not there, appear before our eyes and even interact.
A clear example of augmented reality is the game Pokemon Go, where its players could use their mobile and watch a pokemon at a bus stop.
Visit museums with virtual reality
It is one of the most used resources.
The Metropolitan Museum of New York is one of the first to offer an incredible experience, a visit where you can not only enjoy all the works, you can also do it from any angle and without leaving home.
There are some slightly more curious experiences, such as visiting virtual museums, that is, visiting a space that does not really exist, they are famous works from museums around the world arranged in visually attractive spaces.
Thus, we can enjoy the Mona Lisa in a space and if we want, go through a door to get closer to an ancient army of stone warriors that seem paralyzed in time.
Finally, there is a combination of virtual and augmented reality such as that offered by the Museum of London, where we will see a real guide appear in front of us, walk around looking at the works and decide if we want to vary their physical size.
Augmented reality to find the best restaurant
This experience is one of those that has been most reported in the news. You can enter a restaurant and sit at the table, put on some glasses and pressing some buttons, you will look in front of you at the appearance of the different dishes on the menu, this allows you to know the portions and in general, the image of the food that you could taste.
This extends to the experience of being able to observe this same menu from your home or from the hotel where you are staying, so you decide which restaurant to go to and what dish to order before leaving and taking a taxi.
Geolocation and augmented reality
Think of it like this: You are on the 20th floor of the hotel, and you want to know where a nearby bar is to have a few drinks.
Taking your tablet and focusing its lens on the city, you can see icons appear that show you exactly where the bars are and where the gas stations or well-known shops are in the area.
Meet extinct animals with augmented reality
This is one of the most interesting attractions.
Looking at the animal in virtual reality could be done from home, but this experience allows you to put your glasses inside the museum and get closer to a real dinosaur fossil, then watch how those bones begin to transform into a real animal and even move in front of your eyes.
Companies like Neosentec have developed programs that allow you to see inhabitants of bygone eras doing what they did in their daily routine.
This as part of a unique cultural attraction, visitors are delighted with the experience and truly feel that they have seen the inhabitants of centuries ago in front of their eyes.
In sports there are also interesting options for both virtual reality and augmented reality.
The Olympic Virtual Reality Museum in Rio de Janeiro is just one of many places where you can enjoy yourself.
A perfect space to go with children, since you can play virtually, test your shooting power by hitting a virtual ball and all this while competing with friends or parent-child.
There are also complexes in other countries where you get on a stationary bike and, by putting on your glasses and pedaling, you will find yourself on a pleasant journey in a space surrounded by forests, climbing mountains and even people greeting you in some sections.
A good encouragement for those who do not feel very motivated to pedal.
What is the limit of virtual reality and augmented reality?
In terms of culture, tourism and entertainment, it seems that right now everything depends only on the creativity of the engineers in charge of designing tours and exhibitions.
The Boca Raton Museum of Art near Miami (USA), exposes some ancient treasures of the Incas in an exhibition about Machu Picchu and all its history.
The tour is presented by a virtual hero, an ancient warrior who will show the different treasures. In the background, the visitor will hear the characteristic roar of the jaguar, the rain, birds... at the end of the exhibition, visitors use a helmet and will enjoy the experience of flying over Machu Picchu. You will really feel hovering like a bird over one of humanity's treasures.
The best thing is that starting in 2022, this cultural attraction will visit several countries, including France, Japan, Australia and China.