Augmented Reality AR

Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of digital information with the user’s environment in real time. Unlike virtual reality (VR), which creates a totally artificial environment, AR users experience a real-world environment with generated perceptual information overlaid on top of it.

Augmented reality has emerged as an important concept within hospitality management in recent years, because it allows hotels and other related businesses to enhance the physical environment they are selling (i.e. their hotel and its rooms), or enhance the experience of exploring the surrounding area; making them more interactive.

Travel and tourism is an extensive sector, entailing aspects such as transportation, hospitality, accommodation, tourist destinations, local transit and many more. While AR technology is relatively new in the mobile app development domain, the role of augmented reality apps in tourism and travel apps is ever growing.

Navigate tourists through smartphones

Ever got lost while travelling in another country? We surely know how you feel, and it’s not something to be proud of. However, AR experiences can help to navigate you safely without having to ask for directions to the locals.

The most basic example would be Google Maps. Your go-to-navigation app turns out to incorporate AR in so many ways, especially on its Live View feature. By activating the feature, you can scan around the roads with your phone camera, and let the app directs you to places with virtual arrows and pointers.

Serve as a free, personal tour guide

Feel a little tight on your budget, but in the need to explore interesting places? No worries, nowadays you can have your own personal tour guide, powered with AR experiences.

From the comfort of your smartphone, AR allows you to identify objects or buildings nearby, and adds insightful description about the local places interest.

City Tour apps, for example, uses object recognition to display information on your screen regarding places of interest, museums, galleries, and other tourist attractions.

Educate people about the past historical value

When it comes to travelling, historical sites are also one of the most popular tourist attractions – be it for domestic or international tourists. However, it’s also disappointing as some important landmarks across the world were not on their origin state, or worse, destroyed completely. What could have been a great treasure of knowledge and attractive sight-seeing, is now left unknown.

Visitors can simply download an AR mobile app, and  view the cultural site in different lights based on different times. It is smart tourism, giving an opportunity for tourists to explore a long-forgotten history with technology.

Create interactive advertising

No matter how fascinating your tourist attractions offer, it will still be unknown if you don’t promote them. That’s how important marketing is – it plays a huge portion for your incoming visitors.

Partner with BIC services to boost up your campaigns with interactivity, forming an innovative way of communication.