The Virtual Reality Experience @ Flight Centre

 

It’s the start of a new year and you’re itching to go on a holiday but you just don’t know where to yet? Flight Centre is helping customers with that similar problem by providing a revolutionary technology that immerses them right into holiday destinations all over the world using virtual reality (VR) technology.

 

In-store customers wear VR headsets and audio headphones, which engage their senses of sight and sound by letting them view 360-degree videos with surround sound. Imagine snorkeling underwater at the Great Barrier Reef and everywhere you turn, there are stunning corals and vibrant marine animals. Or picture yourself standing in the middle of the famous Shibuya intersection of Tokyo, looking around at the dazzling LED lights and shop signs while listening to the hustle and bustle of people crossing. It seems too good to believe that such technology exists.

However, I’ve tried the VR headset and experienced it for myself and it was intensely realistic! I was actually moving my hands about to interact with my surroundings but only to realise that I’m only watching a video. For each destination, there were a variety of scenes, from quietly strolling through temples to partying up on the beach with fire-eaters that give customers a complete and diverse experience of that city. Flight Centre’s Virtual Reality Experience provides customers an accurate feel of what that destination has to offer in terms of nature, culture, shopping or activities. Even trying it out might inspire one to go to places he or she might not have considered going before.

Flight Centre collaborated with TaKanto Virtual Reality to produce an innovative spherical orb of multiple cameras that allowed them to capture 360-degree videos and ambient sounds at multiple angles simultaneously. The footage is then meticulously synchronised and stitched together. It's said that Flight Centre is the first travel retailer in South East Asia to pioneer this technology. Currently, its Virtual Reality Experience has embedded three destinations so far with more to come: Cairns of Australia, Hoi An of Vietnam and Tokyo of Japan.

They say that pictures don’t really capture the beauty of a place and you’ve to be there to experience it for yourself. However, the lines are being blurred because of the VR technology as it is so realistic, you will feel like you’re actually there and Flight Centre hopes that it’ll inspire you to pick up your passport and get on travelling.

Flight Centre Travel Group is Australasia’s best known travel agency group which offers services such as booking for flights, holidays, tours and travel insurance.

Flight Centre Virtual Reality Experience is available at all its local stores:

137 Cecil Street

137 Cecil Street #01-01

Singapore 069537

CityLink Mall

1 Raffles Link #B1-07

Singapore 039393

Plaza Singapura

68 Orchard Road #04-41A

Singapore 238839

Photos by Flight Centre

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Love, Kenneth