Virtual Reality

In
Tourism Industry

NAME (GROUP12) ROLL NO

Daniel Zubair 22DM079
Dhairya Veerwani 22DM085
Himanshu Singh 22DM102
Hitesh Tomar 22DM104
Kartik Panpalia 22DM122
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO TITLE PAGE NO.

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4
3. INTRODUCTION 5
4. PROBLEM STATEMENT 6
5. VIRTUAL REALITY EVOLUTION 7
6. IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTHS 8
7. IMPACT OF VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTHS 9-10
8. CHALLENGES FOR VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTH 11-12
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our gratitude to DR. Nimisha Singh, who gave us the opportunity to work on this
project. We extend our gratitude to Birla Institute of Management and Technology for providing us the
opportunity to explore innovation in the Tourism sector.
We are deeply indebted to the Project In-Charge, DR. Nimisha Singh for her stimulating suggestions and help.
Their continuous support, guidance and vision have helped us in this project and it has truly been a pleasure
working with them.
Working in this project has been a great learning experience and a curtain raiser to an interesting and
rewarding career. This exposure has enriched us with technical knowledge and has also introduced us to the
attributes of a successful professional.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project report is an attempt to incorporate theoretical knowledge with practical learning out in the field.
The first part of this report contains a brief overview about the direction and scope of this project, followed by
a problem statement which gives a more in-depth review of the problem we have decided to tackle, which is
creating a safer environment for tourists.
We have decided to employ the help of the VR technology to help us in emboldening the tourists here to
travel to their heart's content by providing them with reliable information.
What follows after the problem statement is a brief overview of how the technology works and how we have
decided to integrate it with the problem we have talked about, following it up with the impact this might have
on the economy/society.
The penultimate section contains speculation about the challenges that we might have to face while
integrating this technology, followed up by an end to the report with the future prospects in store.
 INTRODUCTION

Tourism has always been one of the most lucrative sectors for the Indian economy. With a country that houses
one of the most ancient civilizations, temples, monuments, it’s no wonder it attracts tourists from all around
the globe. The tourism industry attracts 18 million tourists on average in a year, and is expected to contribute
$512 billion to the economy by 2029, and generate 54 million jobs.
But with a country as vast as India, with countless cultures, 121 languages and 270 mother tongues where the
regional language changes every 100 kms, travelling alone especially as a foreign tourist can be a daunting and
intimidating task. Not to mention that India has become somewhat infamous for numerous tourist scams that
take place. In fact, there are countless articles on the internet detailing various scams and how to avoid them
as a foreigner. From overcharging tourists for taxi/auto fares, unofficial tour guides, unauthorized and
unlicensed tourist offices where prices are extremely high to the hotel switch scams. The list is long and the
hurdles are endless
In order to combat these issues and make Indian tourism a safe and stress-free experience for not just
foreigners but for everyone, we have decided to employ the use of the VR (Virtual Reality) technology.
Today’s virtual reality technologies build upon ideas that date back to the 1800s, almost to the very beginning
of practical photography. In 1965, an inventor by the name of Ivan Sutherland created what is widely regarded
as the first as the first head mounted display system for use in immersive applications. The use of the term
“virtual reality,” however, was first used in the mid-1980s when Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research, began
to develop the gear, including goggles and gloves, needed to experience what he called “virtual reality.”
VR is an amazing technology incorporating audio and visual feedback to simulate a world for the user. The
current VR systems use either virtual reality headsets of multi-projected environments to create realistic
images, sounds and other sensations. It simulates the user’s physical presence in the virtual world.
For our project, we will use this technology to figure out how to develop a learning and interactive
experience for tourists to know more about the place they are visiting and how to safely navigate it.
 PROBLEM STATEMENT

India has an extremely lucrative tourism sector, with an average 18 million tourists visiting the country each
year. It accounts for 9.2% of our GDP and generates millions of jobs. India’s rich history and culture attracts
tourists from all over the globe.
However, with a country as vast as India, with languages as many as 121 which keep changing every 100 kms,
it becomes a somewhat intimidating task for even a citizen, let alone a foreigner to navigate India. In addition
to that, the tourism sector is infested with numerous scams designed to rob tourists of their money. Inflated
taxi/auto rates, hotel switch scams, unlicensed and unauthorized tourism offices just to name a few. These
things contribute to a bad image of our country on an international scale.
Main issue lies in a lack of information about our intricately built streets and localities which Google alone
cannot provide. It is a strenuous task to provide reliable information about a place that’s bustling with people.
Our greatest challenge lies in providing that reliable information to not just foreigners, but to each and
every single tourist and making tourism in India a safe and stress-free environment.
 VIRTUAL REALITY'S EVOLUTION

Today's market is looking for user-accessible applications that go beyond those for marketing, gaming, and
entertainment. Virtual reality is the topic of a lot of discussion this year. The prospect of programming in VR is
intriguing since it poses a challenge to developers.

How Does VR Work?

Virtual reality headsets' primary goal is to replace the physical world with digitally created elements. The
headsets' built-in gyro sensors, accelerometers, and magnetometers keep track of your movements inside
the virtual environment and capture your interactions with it. Additionally, by connecting to external
cameras and computer systems, your headset may access software for your VR experience or link to other
programs.

COMPONENTS

1. Field of Vision and Frame Rate

 The field of view of your headset determines the world you see and how much it mirrors your actual
surroundings. No headset can now support our whole native Width, but as technology develops,
higher frame rates are becoming feasible. 
 Frame rate is another visual characteristic of VR activity. In order to replicate what you would see in
real life, the frames on the VR headset screen should move very quickly. It is believed that the human
eye can process up to 1000 frames per second. However, the human brain never makes sense of this
information.
 The majority of developers believe that frame rates below 60 FPS are boring and disgusting. Experts
hope to expect more gains when they near 120 frames per second. Space audio and sound effects
Modern landscape VR headsets use spatial audio or 360-degree sound to orient you in the
appropriate direction as you move around various locales and activities. This heightens the sense of
"reality".

2. Tracking and placement of the head

 Virtual reality is so exciting because technology allows you to move around in a virtual area while
having the environment change depending on where you are.
 You can experiment with either number because the degrees of freedom for head and position
trackers range from 3 to 6. A headset can show you where you are in the room and which way your
head is oriented using six degrees of freedom.
 It is therefore capable of independent space flight. The VR headset's external sensors aid in ensuring
the user's safety while moving around the room. VR tracking technology is rapidly advancing.
 IMPLICATION OF VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTH

We've all seen telephone booths, and virtual reality booths are very similar in appearance. The main idea
behind the VR Booths is to provide tourists with stress-free and hassle-free guidance about the tourist
destination and to create excitement about visiting the location. It will help in the increment of tourism and
save the two most important things for the tourist, i.e., time and money.

These setups can be placed at railway stations, metro stations, tourist destinations, and airports where
tourists or anyone can use them to learn about the tourist destinations, hotels, restaurants, and places of
worship around that location, including how to get there, what they look like, and the history of the places. VR
Booths will have a VR set, a data storage system which has 3-D model of places, restaurants hotels, and a 3-D
navigation map with complete details of mode of transport, fare charges etc.

When a tourist reaches to the airport and railway station, a tourist can use the VR Booth to make travel
planning with in a 3-D experience with more information. The VR set will have a complete 3-D image of the
tourist place, which will give the user a preview of the place with some information about the place. It also
consists of digital guidance 3D character which acts as the user's assistance and works on voice recognition
technology. 

India is the one of the most preferred tourist destinations, over 17.9 million foreign tourist visits India in 2019,
the main challenges tourist face is language barriers, Virtual reality will allow tourists to not only know the
place in their own language and in 3-D view, but also to know in a more exciting, productive way that provide
the tourist a whole new experience which also being more fun for the tourist.  Each individual has a different
type of preference or a combination of preference types that is suited to them. A tourist can watch the
preview of the tourist places and hotels around the place, which will help them to decide on the basis of
their preferences. These setups will help the tourist to know in the most effective way, which will save the
money and time of the tourist.
 IMPACT OF VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTH

1) ECONOMIC IMPACT OF VIRTUAL REALITY

 Although technology has advanced quickly, it is still incredibly underutilized in many areas. The New
Normal has, however, raised awareness of technology across many industries, particularly travel and
tourism.
 As a result, technology is now being used more effectively in profitable and inventive ways that
benefit both businesses and their customers. VR is having a wide range of effects on the travel and
tourist business, including the following:
 Because virtual reality booths at metro stations engage a variety of human senses like images and
noises to trick the brain into responding to the virtual experience, it has been discovered that they
have a similar effect on tourists.
 As a result, overseas visitors would have easier access to the devices.

2) GENERATION OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

 The economic consequence of virtual reality headsets would be that even establishing them in the
NCR region would be quite expensive.
 More and more startups are entering this industry, and major investor organizations like Sequotia
Capital and others are funding them as well. There would undoubtedly be thousands of new jobs
created for people in India, where unemployment is at an all-time high.
 Additionally, it will entice businesses from the nearby region to promote their goods and services,
aiding in income generation.
 The client data collected from the VR booths may be utilized and made profitable, which would
eventually increase sales.
 There will be a greater willingness among current businesses to invest in and grow in this new
industry. a number of these industries.
 All of these industries, as well as many others, will undergo a shift that enables enormous economies
of scale savings, which will lower the cost of everything.

3) BOOST IN OTHER SECTORS

 The demand for virtual goods and services providers, as well as the cottage industries that surround
them, will increase at the same time, in addition to the high-tech demand for designers, developers,
and graphic artists.
 A significant increase in consumer demand for haptics devices will occur fast as a result of the VR
booth industry's explosive growth. Clothes or other items that communicate touch are haptics
devices.
 These items can range from a glove that enables users to grasp and control virtual objects to a suit
and treadmill that enable users to move around in a virtual environment, interact with objects and
other users, and have realistic effects on them.
 This will undoubtedly increase the nation's GDP. Government support would be critical in establishing
the booths at the metro stations and making it a success.
 It's important to remember that the number of people who use virtual reality (VR) is exponentially
increasing. According to experts, there will be more than 171 million active VR users in two years, and
the business will grow to 70 billion dollars by 2020.

4) IMPACT OF VIRTUAL REALITY ON SOCIETY:

 Virtual reality (VR) is a setting created by a computer that has scenes and objects that appear to be
genuine, giving the user a sense of immersion in their surroundings. Through a VR helmet or headset,
one can view this environment.
 Those who have a wanderlust can find a bridge thanks to VR's trans portative qualities.
 A VR experience might give you the impression that you are there and help you feel as though you
have gotten away from it all, even though it is Unlike being at the beach.
 With the installation of VR booths at metro stations, foreign visitors from diverse nations will have a
common platform to read and learn about the specifics of their travel routes and avoid paying
exorbitant costs.
 The construction of VR booths would also benefit people who are physically disabled because they can
utilize the technology to learn their routes and avoid everyday difficulties and excessively high fees
imposed by cab and auto rickshaw drivers.
 It will assist improve India's reputation in terms of tourist frauds, which would ultimately draw in
more visitors than previously.

CHALLENGES FOR VIRTUAL REALITY BOOTH

1) Huge costs

 VR despite being an amazing technology also comes with its caveats. The primary one being the price
of a single headset, which is sky high.
 Price of a mid-range VR can be anywhere from INR 40,000 – INR 60,000. It is a pretty expensive
technology to incorporate. Let’s take the NCR scenario for example. NCR houses some 255 metro
stations and 4329 bus stops throughout.
 If we were to set up a VR station at each one of these places using the cheaper models to save costs,
not even counting the cost of setting up these stations, internet connectivity, maintenance costs, we
would end up with a bill of more than 18.3 crore rupees.
 That is just for the NCR region, we haven’t even crossed state lines. With a country as large as India it is
going to be a monetary challenge.

2) Research and Labor

 The next big challenge that comes with incorporating this technology is the man hours and labor. If
we are going to replicate the environment around a person in the virtual space, down to the minutest
detail, it is going to require extensive field research.
 Say you want to recreate Delhi in the virtual world and a user wants to know about the quickest and
cheapest route to Red Fort, along with auto or bus fares.
 That would first require people going out in the real world, clicking photographs of every nook and
cranny, researching about auto/bus fares, compiling all this information, recreating the photographs
for a 3d environment and creating a user-friendly UI for people to access all of this information.
 This would require the labor of 100s of people and their wages and salaries. Now imagine doing this
throughout India, the challenge and cost rise exponentially. Needless to say, this would be a big
logistical hurdle.

3) User Interface

 Incorporating VR stations isn’t enough. These stations would also require the use of a user-friendly UI
(User Interface) so people can actually use them. In a country like India, where people might not be
that technically savvy, using a new technology can be a daunting task.
 The challenge with any new technology lies in teaching the people on how to actually use it. And even
though VR has found its stride in the Western and South Asian regions, it is still relatively new in India.
A good UI works with human intuition.
 The best interfaces are almost invisible to the user.
 They avoid unnecessary elements and are clear in the language they use on labels and in messaging.
It needs to be consistent and include common elements so people can assimilate to it better.
 This would require the help of a team of talented developers and programmers.
4) Theft

 Theft is another problem we haven’t talked about yet. With a technology this expensive and out and
about in the public, as in a remote bus stand somewhere, the risk of theft is immense.
 Additional costs would be required to come up with a solution to protect these stations.
 All in all, these are the challenges we would need to work on if we are to incorporate this technology.

FUTURE PROSPECTS
1) Creating a safe and stress-free environment for all tourists

 India has become somewhat infamous for its various tourist scams. Not only do foreigners get scammed
but our own citizens fall for these scams as well.
 By incorporating a ‘one stop’ information system for all tourists, we can hope to avoid much of this
problem in the future.
 The VR booths will provide tourists with information about famous attractions like historical sites,
museums, temples and will give them all the necessary information on how to get there, i.e., the
cheapest and the quickest route, trusted and verified hotel accommodations, auto and taxi charges
just to name a few.
 We want to embolden tourists to travel to their heart’s content without the fear of getting
scammed. This will not only boost tourist attraction but will also prove to be a positive force towards
our country’s social standing and reputation in the world.

2) Trial runs of tourist spots and hotels

 By using the technology of VR, tourists can peruse through various different tourist spots to decide
whether the place is worth visiting for them, if it sparks their interest.
 Likewise, they can find accommodations beforehand and can check out the rooms virtually to see if
it’s to their liking.
 This would serve to be an excellent way for tourists to save cost on unnecessary travel when all the
information is readily available.
 This will not just be some texts on the screen but the actual reality on the ground. It is sure to drive
up tourist attraction.

3) Employment Generation

 While VR has found its stride in the Western region of the world, it is still a relatively new technology
in India. With measures like this, it is bound to pique the interest of entrepreneurs.
 This can become a huge market for companies to invest in just judging by the potential setup cost.
 That will entice more firms and corporations to invest heavily into R&D to maximize its potential
first which will inadvertently create tens of thousands of jobs throughout the nation. It will
strengthen the economy and the IT job sector.