Mood Board
I pulled a lot of these images while I was researching VR and tourism and games, and experiences that already exist within the subject. I noted how they made me feel and how I wanted my audience to experience travel and VR. I created two mood boards thinking about VR and the different experiences and feelings people can get through VR and one for the experiences and feelings you get while you physically travel someplace.
Travel thoughts: connected, scenery, sensorial, fun, family, friends
VR thoughts: digital, coded, personal
Observations/Thoughts
Is there a way to simulate more physical and sensorial experiences when thinking about travel through VR? (ie, smells, taste, touch, connections with other people, length of experience, weather)
Can images create a visceral response? How many senses can be relayed in VR/XR?
Should the senses be relayed in VR/XR or should there still be some sort of physical aspect to traveling?
Would this use Oculus or an already existing VR headset or something else/new?
Is there a limit on VR/XR technology?
Academic Paper Response
I'm currently reading a doctoral dissertation paper by Ye Shun called Gamification in Tourism and Hospitality: Theoretical Foundations, Player Typology, and Effectiveness. I've included the link to the paper here. This paper was about exploring the effects of game mechanics and how they can motivate tourists to participate in a trip turned into a game. Because gaming is such a huge industry, her topic about using games to draw people into more travel was really interesting to me. It's similar to the VR games I have already found, Wander and National Geographic Explore VR, and deals with topics that I have already started thinking about like why would people be drawn into VR tourism as opposed to traveling in real life.
I've been more interested in game theory recently and when thinking about VR and tourism, it could be a really interesting thing to think about how to incentivize/reward or incorporate game mechanics into tourism. This would also depend on the context of the experience. whether or not this is a substitution for people to travel who can't physically go somewhere or if this experience is a game wrapped up in traveling just to incorporate a different way to view different places or if this is something else entirely. Since VR is already used for gaming purposes, it could be interesting to see how it can connect to travel and the tourism industry. That's the reason I chose this article as it encompasses several different topics that could be intriguing to explore. The reasons for users to use VR to travel are just as important as the experience itself.
Dream Review
This was hard for me to write because I wasn't sure what the end goal of my project was or really where I even want to take it.
Alexis Sanders's travel experience brings VR travel to new heights. Her innovative thinking brought new ways for people to come together during this pandemic. This experience allows people to experience new places not only visually, but she includes olfactory and haptic senses as well. These senses bring a new vision of how VR travel can be experienced and where the future of VR tourism can go.
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