Expedia takes a trip into Virtual Reality

The global travel giant has showcased its new VR service which lets customers take a virtual tour of hotel rooms before booking

In what could revolutionise the way we book our holidays, Expedia – the world’s biggest travel platform – has embraced Virtual Reality (VR) tech and is making it possible for customers to take a virtual tour of hotel rooms so they can get a much better feel for shape and size before making a booking. That’s a far cry from a handful of (often misleading) jpegs.

Additionally, the user will also be able to slide open the balcony door and step outside to see what the view is like. Arthur Chapin, Expedia’s Senior Vice President of Product and Design said at a recent conference: “If you’re going to make the decision of [booking] a cruise, wouldn’t it be cool if you could check out the ship [virtually] before you spend that much money?”

Expedia spent over a USD 1 billion on new technology in 2016, with the VR experience being one of several new innovations the company has spoke of. Another area it’s looking into is using devices such as Amazon’s Echo and AI-powered chatbots so users can browse, interact and book trips using just voice commands.