THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A VIRTUAL TOUR APPLICATION FOR VISITORS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study: The advent of the third industrial revolution that commenced in 1969 with the electronics and information technology (IT) revolution has fundamentally altered the way people live, work, tour and relate to one another worldwide. The electronics and information technology (IT) revolution has brought transformation in tremendous scale, scope and complexity that is unlike anything humankind has experience before. The new era has led the Government and business sectors of various countries to adopt new promotional initiatives for various businesses through the use of technologies that can be accessed remotely via the internet. One of these initiatives and probably one of the most significant developments in the field of information technology (IT) is virtual reality (VR). VR headset was originally intended for video games, but these days there have been diversified application of virtual reality for areas outside of video games. Nowadays, people see around 5,000 advertisements a day and it is really hard to get people’s attention (Jagannathan, 2017). Thus, VR technologies currently offer unbounded potentials in diverse fields.

Virtual reality (VR) is the computer simulation of a real or imaginary system that enables a user to perform operations on the simulated system and shows the effects in real time. It is the technology of using the computer-generated three-dimensional environment for modelling and simulation that enables a person to interact with an artificial three-dimensional (3D) visual or other sensory environment (Pahlevi, Sayono, Hermanto, 2021). VR is a computer-generated environment with scenes and objects that appear natural, immersing the user in their surroundings (Putrantoa,, Heriyantoa, Achmada., & Kurniawana, 2023). Virtual reality applications immerse the user in a computer-generated three-dimensional environment (often referred to as virtual environment) which simulates reality through the use of interactive devices, which send and receive information and are worn as goggles, headsets, gloves, or body suits.

According to Beck et al. (2019), the Virtual environment (VE) can be produced from real-captured photos or artificially generated images. Viewers can travel virtually and change view perspective, giving users a sense of genuineness (Slater & Sanchez-Vives, 2016). The VR headset that was originally intended for video games has proven to offer potential in other applications and many different spheres of life. Thus, VR tools have been used to prepare military personnel for combat, to teach medical personnel how to perform procedures, and to facilitate engineers’ use of the product design and development cycle (Kapp & O-Driscoll, 2010).

Virtual reality applications can be used in professional development. Some disciplines already have made extensive use of virtual reality applications for training, and these applications have transformed how learning occurs in professional prep-aration programs. Virtual reality is being used at tertiary institution to stimulate learning and comprehension in conjunction with either campus or online courses. Thus, VR applications have been used to assist college students to teach academic subjects (Dickey, 2005), to acquire and practice skills (Steinkuehler, 2008), and to engage in role-playing exercises (Franklin & Arnetta, 2011). VR is often used as an educational tool that provides visitors’ enjoyable experience in tourism. VR can increase the level of interaction with museum and art galleries (Carrozzino & Bergamasco, 2010). It unbounded potentials for mass virtual visitations to actual tourism destinations.

In healthcare, virtual reality can be employed to help surgeons to develop their expertise and skills without injuring or killing the patients in real life. Because of its ability to induce the emphasised sensory and emotional experience, VR is often used by marketers in establishing the communication of emotions and experiences influencing the consumers and tourists. Moreover, the roles of such VR technologies in tourism and its management / marketing have been described in literature as capable of showing their intricate abilities to simulate real-life situations and contexts, occasionally being touted as a substitute to actual travel, making it a very powerful tool for meeting the needs of tourists or visitors to place of interest (Pestek & Sarvan, 2020). VR is also an excellent method of training athletes, especially those who participate in dangerous sports such as racing car drivers.

According to Guttentag (2010), the most valuable strength of virtual reality is its capacity to visualize spatial settings. Visualizing spatial settings is especially important in tourism, since the products offer for sale are intangible and are trust commodities that consumers cannot verify ahead of time. Thus, virtual reality can adapt as tourism tool. Putting on a virtual reality headset and comparing different destinations could therefore assist consumers in making informed judgments (Cheong, 1995). Virtual experiences can therefore provide more effective promotion for theme parks than brochures (Wan, Tsaur, Chiu, & Chiou, 2007). For the ultimate purpose of web-based destination marketing is to provide tourists with travel information via a virtual experience of the place in order to entice them to visit (Huang, Backman, Backman, & Chang, 2016). Virtual reality can thus cater for the imagined experience by allowing the user to experience certain visual, aural, and, spatial features of a place without visiting the site physically.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading in early 2020, majority of jobs and various facets of business activities have been experiencing serious challenges. Thus the tourism business need to adapt to new conditions and rearrange the business model strategy so that it can survive in the new era. Thus, VR is being developed as a part of smart tourism to provide information about destinations and stimulate its attractions as a potential tourism centre. Virtual tourism features as a way of promoting and providing travel experiences using digital technology. Though few studies have shown the value of virtual reality as a commercial tool for promoting tourism in Nigeria (Balogun, Thompson, & Sarumi, 2010). The concept of virtual reality tourism was adopted during the new normal era for the purpose of strengthening and promoting brands (Pahlevi et al., 2021). VR has been seen to be universally beneficial in every segment of human activities all over the globe.

On the other hand, there is paucity of researches on virtual reality tour application and its implementation for tertiary institution visitors in Nigeria. In the framework of supporting creative tertiary institution campus, the Management of such institution ought to introduce the development of virtual reality tour application for the tertiary institution visitors. This is because VR unbounded potentials for mass virtual visitations to actual tourism destinations, and there is the notion that tertiary institution community have now become tourist destinations for visitors or prospective new students. Thus, the need for this study for the design and implementation of a virtual reality tour application for Mountain Top University visitors.

 

Figure 1.1 Sample of a Virtual Campus (De Lucia, Francese, Passero, & Tortora, 2009)