As COVID-19 continues to disrupt many Australians' travel plans, some of those looking for a risk-free escape are turning to virtual reality tourism.
And while it may sound like a downgrade from the real thing, tour guides and designers of these experiences say it's becoming increasingly sophisticated.
But what is virtual reality tourism? Dr Ryan Yung, a travel and tourism researcher, defines it as the ability to "be physically in one location but your mind is in a different location."
It can now be accessed by anyone who has a PC, laptop or mobile phone through YouTube or via virtual tours online.
And the experience can be enhanced by using a fold-out Google Cardboard viewer or, for those willing to spend more money, technologically advanced virtual reality headsets.
Unique experiences
So is virtual tourism any substitute for the real thing?
It's hard to compare the two but virtual tourism does have some unique benefits, Dr Yung tells ABC RN Breakfast.
"Some of the more popular attractions in virtual tourism [eventually] will be … places which would be physically impossible to visit," he says.
"If we wanted to visit Rome, for example, in the medieval times, it's possible to do so via virtual tourism."
Some virtual experiences are also trying to integrate sensory elements, although Dr Yung says there's still much more work to be done in this area.
"With smells, they use pods, which emit synthetic smells ... similar to what you'd find in a shopping mall, when you walk past a cookie stand or something with artificial smells."
"With taste at the moment, there is no real substitute, but I believe some researchers in Singapore have come up with a technology where they can trick your mind through smell.
"This is where you're drinking mineral water but, through the trick of colour and smell, you can basically fool the mind into thinking [the person is] tasting something."
New opportunities
Virtual tourism could open up destinations for those who couldn't access them otherwise.
"A lot of the technology that's behind it [came in] years before COVID hit, and it was to overcome a lot of issues with barriers with accessibility and inclusivity," Dr Yung says.
"So people who were not mobile were able to still get some experience of the outside world."
It offers other opportunities too.
For example, for those who are risk adverse, virtual tourism could be a way to take part in extreme sports safely, he says.
"[People] I've spoken to said something like … 'I would love to do something like bungee jumping but my natural fear would never let me do something like that'."
"But [with] the comfort of VR, knowing that you physically will not be doing the bungee jump but you're able to experience something like that, that could be a substitute for the real experience.
"I've heard people say they want to see the Great Barrier Reef, but they are so afraid of water … so that could be [an opportunity] in the near term."
Virtual reality can also be used to travel freely without any risk of social or cultural stigmas, he adds.
"There are certain behaviours [that] certain cultures expect of us when we travel overseas, or when we're out in public. And when we are hidden deep behind this virtual lens, then [virtual tourists] are able to explore different mannerisms or cultures that you normally wouldn't be able to," he says.
So for those looking to scratch their travel itch, virtual tourism is opening up the world once again, says Dr Yung.
"This is one small positive that has come up with COVID in alerting research and development [and encouraging the] acceptance of the technology by everyone else."
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