It's not just the stuff of movies, augmented reality is becoming common currency – but can it enhance business travel? Felicity Cousins investigates
ONE OF THE FIRST SCENES in Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a point-of-view shot through the eyes of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s man-machine. Information about his surroundings appears on the screen, with calculations on the size and shape of objects, vehicles and people in his field of vision. And then big Arnie delivers the famous line: “I need your clothes, your boots and your motorcycle.”
When the film came out in 1991 this technology seemed fanciful, but in fact what we were seeing was an interpretation of augmented reality, which has actually been around for decades. Paul Lewis is CEO of Media Grand, a company which produces augmented reality experiences across all industry sectors. He says: “The first example of augmented reality was back in the 1960s, but in the 1990s the term was coined by Professor Tom Caudell at Boeing, who used it to map wiring on an aircraft. It did take a while to get into public consciousness but the whole mobile tablet market has really done it wonders. Now phones have the ability to process information and determine GPS on a large screen – that’s really the trigger that has made it take off.”
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Augmented reality is where the real world and the virtual world meet. Digital information can be layered over real-life views using location or image recognition. The technology works by taking your location from a device such as a mobile phone, and comparing it with a database of information about that location. For example, if a business traveller arrived in a city and was trying to find his hotel he could hold up his phone and use augmented reality to see local information and the direction of his hotel. The technology also works by using image recognition, so if a traveller arrives in London and points his device at Buckingham Palace, information and facts about the royal residence can be accessed.
While it may still seem futuristic, the technology is gaining ground in the everyday. Josh Gunn, sales executive at Statesman Travel Group says: “Augmented reality has wide ranging implications for the whole travel industry – as it does for almost any other industry I can think of.”
Take fashion: Wrangler is running a promotional campaign hanging paper tags on its jeans which depict a model wearing its clothes – when you point your augmented reality-enabled device at the label, the model comes to life, giving you a more vivid view of the clothes in action. Take publishing: adverts can come alive to readers and a product can appear right in front of them. Or training: mechanics can see the intricacies of a car engine without opening the bonnet. But can this technology help the traveller and, more importantly, the travel buyer?
Carolyn Davies, procurement manager at Profit Flo, says: “This sounds very exciting, but I am struggling to see why I would be interested in it as a buyer or how a TMC [travel management company] could use it to enhance their services. It wouldn’t make me buy a service from a TMC but it might be a nice extra if they added this layer of information to an app.”
Thomas Lorenz, head of global travel category at Agrega, agrees: “I’m aware of augmented reality, but in a procurement environment, being in travel, it has a limited usage for me.”
Every buyer’s concern with new technology is compliance. It’s hard enough to get everyone to use the online booking tool without throwing other new technology into the mix. Lorenz says: “The key for us is that we get the traveller to make the right choice.”
Giving the traveller all the facts about a product with such detailed information could also cause trouble. Chris Pouney, founder of Severnside Consulting says: “If I was a buyer it would be good to have my travellers know more about a product, provided it is consistent with my goals, but if I am trying to downgrade someone – and they can see how their body would fit into a seat – that could be used against me.”
AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
A key use for augmented reality is often showcasing products – and airlines have the perfect opportunity to do this. They can also use your location to show you where their next flight is leaving from, but they can help frequent travellers too. Statesman Travel Group’s Gunn points out: “How about if, when pointing your smartphone at an airline’s logo, it automatically brings up your frequent flyer points and shows what offers are available?”
Location-based augmented reality will also help travellers navigate airports. Patrice Simon, vice-president of innovation and business development at Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT), says: “People are trying to sell to you based on your location. If you go to an airport, there are three lines to go through security but, with augmented reality, you would know how long the lines are, how long it will take and where to get a coffee.”
But do we need augmented reality to give us this information? Simon says: “An airport is a small ecosystem, and we know all our travellers are going there and summarising information – the visual drives behaviour and, for me, this is how augmented reality will work.”
Gunn adds: “When the technology is available, it wouldn’t take much for an application like Tripit to use glasses to alert a business traveller that their flight is delayed. No need to check your phone and no need to look at departure boards.”
But do travellers need their hands held so tightly? We’ve all managed to negotiate airports and catch flights up until now. Is this technology really necessary? Agrega’s Lorenz points out: “Some products out there help you but, in this day and age, if you don’t know when or how to go to the airport…why would I want to pay for that? You have to separate the useful from the gimmicky.”
HOTEL BOOKING
For the hotel sector, augmented reality can be used to sell products but also to help locate and book hotels. HRS has developed its iHotel app with augmented reality so a traveller can find hotels nearby, and see prices and photos. Jon West thinks the industry should embrace this new technology.
“We know videos and photographs influence decision-making, so why wouldn’t you move this on to augmented reality? It’s only a matter of time before we are all demanding a lot more information. By using the augmented reality on iHotel, travellers can see where they need to go and what hotels are available. They can get all of their corporate discounts and negotiated rates.”
West admits, however, that while this is useful for the last-minute business traveller, it has limited use for buyers. “Travel managers would rather you always book in advance, but equally, if you were stuck, they would rather you find the right hotel, make sure it is in programme and go and stay there.”
MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Imagine if you were organising an event and you could see a detailed layout of the venue from the comfort of your office. You could see how a product launch would look before the physical stand was even set up. Media Grand’s Paul Lewis agrees the technology works well in this sector. “It’s also a way of making access to meetings information easier – you have it right in front of you.” Lisa McKenzie, new media consultant with events specialist Grass Roots, adds: “It is no longer a gimmick – it’s a true way for us to produce innovative and engaging communication. Only our imagination can limit us now.”
SECURITY
At the top of every buyer’s list is the security of their travellers. One buyer on Buying Business Travel’s Linked In discussion group noted: “Augmented reality is your third eye. I think the majority crossover for travel buyers in this segment will come faster than we think, especially when it comes to security and knowing where your travellers are.”
Agrega’s Lorenz agrees: “Some of the usages are great – traveller security is one of them.”
Sabre Travel Solutions director Sarah Kennedy is looking to the future where security is concerned. “Security is a valid point for this technology, especially if a contact lens is what we are wearing every day and the user could get messages directly into their line of sight without needing to use a device.” (See In the line of sight, previous page.)
THE FUTURE
The future for augmented reality is already being formed. Media Grand’s Lewis explains: “A lot of the handset manufacturers are investing quite a lot in augmented reality and building chips that can run it faster and smoother to make the most of the phone. Chip manufacturers are going into it now, so that gives you an idea of the future.”
CWT’s Simon, who has already launched a virtual travel assistant for the CWT2Go app, thinks augmented reality will become part of business travel very quickly. “Technology is going so fast, I would say three to five years. It’s not that hard – the technology exists today, you need the data and then it is a matter of getting it done,” he says.
The signs are all there and Amadeus’s report on future business travel technology released last year, From chaos to collaboration – insight into the future of travel, found augmented reality definitely played a part in managed business travel. Amadeus UK managing director Diane Bouzebiba says in the report: “In our quantitative survey, the technologies rated mostly highly were those that tell you more in real-time about the world around you (including translation services) and help improve efficiency in transit. Eventually, we may also see more use of technology to preview a location. As well as a familiarisation tool, technology will be able to offer an alternative experience of a place.”
Sabre’s Kennedy agrees: “What we are seeing today is that getting the content is no longer the challenge – the winners are the ones who can create the content in a physical world”.
But Thomas Lorenz is still not convinced the technology can work for travel buyers. “I don’t believe it will ever go into a virtual environment. Airlines and hotels are getting more and more complex with offering their products. Even if you just take long-haul, it’s pretty impossible to get the best long-haul pricing – there are so many rules. So my view is the more challenging the industry gets, the more complex yield management will get, so travel technology companies are always playing catch-up.”
IN THE LINE OF SIGHT
WHILE ARNIE had his augmented reality inside his computer brain, most of us will still be accessing information via hand-held mobile devices. However special glasses are available. On the recent Channel 4 series Gadget Man, Stephen Fry showcased the Epson Moverio transparent multimedia glasses while on a train. The glasses help commuters watch films, connect to the internet and download apps.
Sabre Travel Studios’ Sarah Kennedy says: “What we are seeing is a natural evolution: taking devices out of hands and into augmented reality glasses – and into the line of sight. There is a lot of opportunity there.”
Grass Roots’ Lisa McKenzie says: “New in the mix is Google’s Project Glass – augmented reality head-mounted displays [HMD] that look like a futuristic set of glasses. Their GPS-based software is reputed to be able to give you location-based content that you can scroll through with the tilt of your head. While in early development stages, this exciting new entry is certainly one to watch for the future and is bound to enter the corporate events space at some point.”
ASIA AND AUGMENTED REALITY
IN A RECENT SU
RVEY by Amadeus, the most popular concept among Chinese travellers was an application that overlays visual information about the physical world around you through your mobile device. In fact 80 per cent found it very or extremely appealing. This figure is meaningful because according to previous forecasts by Amadeus and Oxford Economics, Asian travellers will account for one third of travel spending by 2020 – up from a figure of 21 per cent today.
Source: Amadeus’s report, From Chaos to Collaboration, 2012