Dale Air Partners for Virtual Holiday
15/11/04 - Virtual Holidays are now a reality thanks to Thomson, Remote Media and Dale Air. Egypt in three-and-a-half minutes is now a reality as holiday retailer Thomson offer the first a virtual holiday experience on the high street. The virtual holiday technology provides a 3D full-sensory guided tour of some of Egypt's best known attractions, including the Valley of the Kings, the Temples of Karnak and diving in the Red Sea Rivera. The surround vision, sounds and smells can be experienced by a special headset, worn by the customer in store. Remote Media has developed the multi-sensory virtual holiday experience for Thomson. It features of a specially created 3D video filmed on location in Egypt with a new aroma system developed by Dale air, controlled by the system to trigger four individual aromas to complement the 3D scenes within the Video. The user experiences the virtual holiday experience by wearing a special 3D Headset whilst the aromas are wafted towards the virtual traveller. Footage was shot in various resorts and tourist attractions across Egypt earlier this year, using specialist cameras to capture the 3D film. As the journey progresses, holidaymakers can smell herbs and spices at a open air market, the musty smells of a pharaoh's tomb, refreshing sea breeze and coconut suntan lotion by the swimming pool. The scents are emitted through the separate aroma devise designed by Dale Air, who have developed aromas such as the smell of Kylie's breath for her model at Madame Tussauds. The new technology is to be trialed in the company's Leeds shop from the end of November, and will then be rolled out to different Thomson holiday shops throughout the UK in January, the peak season for holiday bookings. Miles Morgan, Thomson sales and marketing director, said: "This is a real taste of how holidays could be sold in the future. It's the first time any travel company has created technology of this kind and it allows customers to 'try before they buy'. "We think it has a lot of potential to promote specific destinations and we 'll be looking to expand the technology next year. Our plan is to work with different tourist boards to help fund the project so we can offer a wider range of destinations over the next 12 months. "We want to add excitement to the high street shopping experience. Buying a holiday should be fun and our aim is to inject new energy into our holiday shops."
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