Sometime in the future, with despair you watch as yet another border closes due to idiotic nationalistic, xenophobic movements get traction in local government.
"Shit" you think, you've always wanted to see that part of the world. Local culture was supposed to unique on a global scale, and now it seems it will be impossible to get there any time soon.
You watch youtube videos from that place, read articles, look at tiktoks, insta posts, but still, nothing really gives you the picture you desire.
But then, you notice an ad for something called VR Traveler, a service that allows you to experience your desire location, through 1-on-1 VR/360 call, that allows you to "direct" your guide wherever you want to go, from the comfort of your house.
You look at your VR headset, and think, "why not?"
You strap in, and log in into VR Traveler application. There, you find VR guides in the region you are interested in, choose length of your travel, pay small fee, and you instantly get connected to Mario, who lives in the region, and who you will be able to direct however you want for the next 2 hours, as you remotely explore city jungle of your dream location.
Mario does a great job, listening to your request to get closer to things, or to explain why certain things are the way they are. He is using a 360 camera with a long stick, that allows you really see incredible details, while sipping your favorite tea in the comfort of your armchair.
You record few memories from this trip to share with your family, and after two hours are done, you are Mario 5 stars for great stories, and wonderfully smooth experience, as well as full obedience to your requests. You notice in the application there is an option to purchase goodies box, filled with local tasty snacks and gifts from the area for promotional price, it will be delivered within a week. "why not, again!" and you buy it.
_
With the world embracing virtual reality technology more and more, I believe ideas like these will become more prevalent. People love to experience new, but sometimes struggle to make that leap due to sheer technical difficulties of flying hours in an overstimulating environment, dealing with regular tourist problems like SIM cards, local currency, getting taxis, locating the right food.
With startup idea like this it's possible to override all of that, and get a real taste of the travel. It's way more immersive then just watching a video because YOU are the one directing the experience. "Go left, go right, can you get me closer to that painting?"
I see this as a MVP with following elements:
Guide equipped with 360 camera (insta 360) and a long stick, as well as DJI Mic paired with mobile application (VR Traveler) for high audio quality.
VR Headset (Oculus Quest 3, Apple Vision Pro, etc.) with native VR application that links with mobile application that Guide has.
Applications would link Guides and Travelers, through interface that works on mobile and VR (so probably the easiest way would be to do it via Swift language, as it can be written at the same time for iPhone, and Apple Vision Pro, or creating mobile application using Flutterflow (for both ios and android), and create VR application using Unity - connect them both with backend (buildship), and database (supabase)).
Sounds cool.
Iggy out.