Navitaire, a reservation system for low-cost carriers that travel technology giant Amadeus acquired in 2015, is debuting a “proof-of-concept” of how travel searching and booking could work using virtual reality headsets.
The transactional focus of this virtual reality (VR), or 3D immersive tech, makes it stand out. Almost no experiments have been publicized in how picking a flight or rental car and paying for it might work in virtual reality in a way connected to today’s reservation and payment systems, giving the Amadeus-owned company an apparent head start over competitors.
Until now, travel companies have mostly been interested in how they can use virtual reality to help consumers choose a vacation spot. Examples include Marriott’s pop-up VR booths that let consumers try wraparound video views of exotic locales and themeetings-and-events industry’s slate of new virtual reality offerings.
But there doesn’t seem to be enough money to be made in inspiring buyers. It is difficult to say if a piece of marketing, such as virtual reality content, causes a consumer to buy. That “attribution problem — plus the expense of VR — has led travel brands to only createa handful of good examples of VR travel content
Yet “mixed reality” may become popular within a few years’ time. Companies like Avegant, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, HTC, Samsung, and Sony are vying to create the headsets that could become consumers’ primary computing tool. They all want to deliver immersive experiences, either by simulating reality with graphical representations or by augmenting reality with digital images and information shown alongside real objects.
s reservations on the test servers of Navitaire’s reservation systems.
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SHOPPING WITH GLOVES ON
In a demonstration exclusively for Skift, Justin Wilde, a user experience developer at Navitaire, showed off the proof-of-concept. As is often the case in these virtual reality prototypes, Amadeus’ proof of concept has users feel as if they are standing in an open-air room. By pointing with electronically connected gloves, a user can select or grab objects, manipulating them (such as by picking dates on a calendar to buy a trip) or making purchases (such as by tapping a virtual card on a virtual scanner).
A video illustrates the experience, though not as fully:
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Source: Skift