Although augmented reality / virtual reality (AR/VR) technologies are applicable for quite some time now, yet, their everyday application, requires extended 5G network coverage and edge computing.
5G wireless technology has raised high expectations in communications aiming for significantly increased data speeds, substantial capacity expansion, improved reliability and service continuity, and much lower latency which is useful for applications that require real-time feedback. 5G will enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology. The connectivity benefits of 5G are expected to make businesses more efficient and give consumers access to more information faster than ever before. This includes telemedicine, smart cities, intelligent vehicle communications such as V2V and V2X, and IoT/autonomous systems supporting critical infrastructure.
Giorgos Triantafyllou, ATC’s iLab, Senior Project Manager
Providing people with creative communication experiences is a gradually expanding trend, in various domains such as education, security and authorization, sports broadcasting, gaming and social media, and of course, shopping. Tourism is also one of the sectors that has significantly transformed digitally over the last years, from the starting point of planning a trip to arranging transport, accommodation and itineraries. Within this spectrum, we actively explore the capabilities that 5G technology offers when it comes to immersive touristic experiences.
In fact, our Innovation Lab (iLab) teams are currently incorporating Virtual Reality / Mixed Reality (VR/MR) features in Viarota, our personalized city tour planning app, providing its users the possibility to virtually explore suggested and customized thematic tours of different contexts. In this way, users will have an “enriched” experience, where they can visit an area both physically and virtually, thus receiving through the Virtual Tour additional information about the area (Point of Interest).
Our solution will allow users to explore predefined tours both physically and virtually, combining social media content of various points of interest. The resulting MR application will provide personalized information for each node/place of visit of the tour.
Viarota is a tour planning mobile application that enables visitors/users to select predefined tours or build their own personalized ones, according to their preferences. It is a complete solution for turning a trip into an experience, through personalized tours. Our work is based on the use of technologies for:
- grouping POIs,
- developing personalized tours, by analyzing individuals’ habits, interests and selections and matching them to POI,
- integrating commercial offerings and marketing activities (with respect to local products, events and festivals) into a city exploration experience,
- linking the tours with available destination facilities,
- pushing engaging stories, which are aggregated from what people share as experiences with the destinations on the internet, and
- supporting sharing of the visitors’ personalized experiences with their friends in social media.
All enhancements are being implemented within the spectrum of 5GMED project, an initiative mostly financed by the European Commission, that aims to bring sustainable 5G deployment model for future mobility.
