Try before you buy with Expedia

It is nothing new anymore that destinations and hotels as well as tour operators and travel agencies are using Virtual Reality to showcase their offers. Most content is 360° content that allows only limited interaction and therefore restricted immersion. An exceptions is Marriott’s Teleporter that enabled an easier immersion by the provision of 4D elements such as wind, heat or moving floors. Now, travel company Expedia is working on “try before you buy” hotel demonstrations that are presented with the HTC Vive. Users have the possibility to walk around a hotel room and use the controllers to open doors and wardrobes as well as to check out the view from the balcony. Exploring hotel rooms with VR prior to booking can help to reduce the risk and make the traveler more secure about his/her decision. So far, only certain Expedia offices have been providing a demo version of the VR experience on the HTC Vive. However, it has been said that the plan is to provide the content soon via all corresponding websites (Expedia.com, Hotels.com, Trivago.com) to the public.

Try before you buy with Expedia (Photo © VRFocus)

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Julia Beck

Master Student at University of Applied Sciences Salzburg

Julia discovered her interest in the field of eTourism during her master program at UoAS Salzbug. She is fascinated how fast technology develops and finds its way to tourism. Julia wrote her master thesis on the topic of "Virtual Reality as a tool to trigger emotions in tourism marketing" and investigated the impact of VR with subjective as well as objective measurements.

Latest posts by Julia Beck (see all)

• VR & Travel in COVID-Times: Interview with Daniel Sarkady - 7. September 2020
• VR Time Travel: Step into Old Hong Kong - 18. December 2018
• How will technological developments influence VR travel? - 4. July 2018