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Courtesy 3rd Planet Pte. Ltd.
Interactive 3-D travel is still in its infancy. However, it's likely to become more common as the technology improves.
Ever wonder what it’s like to trek to Mount Everest? Unless you’ve got a month of vacation and a big bank account, the next best answer may soon be sitting right in front of you.
Opening to the public on Saturday, Journey to Everest promises to bring Nepal to your computer screen via interactive 3-D. Along the way, the program offers a glimpse into the future of virtual tours.
The Journey was created by Singapore-based 3rd Planet Pte. Ltd. as a portal and marketing tool for the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB). “[This] enables us to showcase our country in a totally new dimension,” said NTB CEO Prachanda Man Shrestha in a statement.
Or several. After registering (free) on the 3rd Planet website, users can explore Kathmandu, navigate around Tribhuvan Airport and fly over the Himalaya to the town of Lukla. Right-click your mouse to activate “fly-through” mode and the scenes get surprisingly realistic.
In Kathmandu, for example, users can walk the streets, peer around corners, even pass through the exterior columns of the Chyasim Deval temple in Patan Durbar Square. (Careful, it takes some coordination not to walk into the walls.) Later, in a scene straight out of “Lost Horizon,” you can ride along as a prop plane works its way over the mountains to the remote town of Lukla.
For now, that’s where the journey ends with the rest of the trek to Everest expected to go live next year. Even so, 3rd Planet CEO Terence Mak believes interactive 3-D travel is ready for prime time. “Pictures and words don't do justice to a location,” he told msnbc.com. “Of all the various ways of remembering information, the human mind remembers it best through experience.”
Others in the industry appear to agree. Last year, 3D Travel of Honolulu launched 3-D portals that combine Google Earth imagery with travel-specific information for Hawaii and Las Vegas.
For Sin City, for example, users can fly along a videogame-like representation of the Strip, ducking under the Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas, following along the roller coaster at New York New York and passing through the fountains at Bellagio. Sidebars let users get more information on hotels, shows and other attractions and, in select cases, make immediate bookings.
The company expects to launch a similar offering for San Francisco in January.
Whether as a marketing platform or booking tool, interactive 3-D travel is still in its infancy. However, it’s likely to become more common as the technology improves, more destinations opt in and more people incorporate tablets and other mobile devices into their travel planning.
“There’s a lot more planning going on with iPads and other tablets,” said Norm Rose of Travel Tech Consulting Inc. “The more you can give people an opportunity to experience the virtual world, the more it will encourage actual travel to those destinations.”
Or, as Mak puts it, “We live in a 3-D world and the best way to understand a destination is in 3-D.”
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Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.
Leave a Comment:
First One Again!!!
Pretty cool stuff. Made with Unity, or so that's what it looks like. Fun program to work with.
Norton antivirus would not allow app to install... because of "WS.Reputation.1" anyone else get this?
The "no silly glasses required" in the headline is totally misleading. The headline is written to make the reader think this is going to be a site that's IN 3D, when it actually consists merely of scenes mapped out in three dimensions so you can navigate them, like any first person video game. 3D in a sense, of course, but not the kind of 3D that should lead the writers to say, "no silly glasses required".
Who the hell would want to climb a damn mountain,, even on-line..
And how fat is your ass?
Yay I climbed the Everest!
Will it show the frozen corpses of all the attempted summit's?
I've been waiting for this to hit. If Bethesda can create Fallout and Elder Scrolls, someone has to be able to create accurate LA virtual tours, Hong Kong virtual tours, etc....
It's a bear to install with Norton guarding the gate, but a great app once you get it past Norton. Do do so, start up Norton Security Suite, click on Settings, select Antivirus, select the Scans and Risks tab, scroll down to Items to Exclude from Auto-Protect, select Configure+ on the right, and add the file or folder in which you've saved the .exe. Use at your own risk. Don't come asking for help if you screw it up, or if the file turns out to be full of nasty virus'.