New PhD Project at BUeTourismLab to start in Sept 2012: Augmented Reality Gaming: A New Paradigm for Tourist Experience?

May 24th, 2012 by Barbara Neuhofer

Project Summary

Gaming allows us to experience reality and can prepare and engage individuals for a future event. Smart phones make gaming part of everyday life and its potential to enhance a tourists experience represents a new industry frontier which this project will pioneer.
Aim: to create a new industry paradigm by engaging tourists in a dynamic, personalized and contextualized experience, through Augmented Reality Gaming (ARG) delivered via smart phones. ARG, which leverages power from both augmented reality and gaming technology, will engage tourists in a fun, informative and memorable way through an entire trip (pre, during and post). This represents a new frontier for both the tourism and gaming industry; a frontier that this project will pioneer.
Rationale: the digital technology has changed the way we think, work, learn and travel. The tourism industry must adapt to this age. Augmented Reality (AR) offer significant benefits in entertainment, training and tourism. With the increasing performance of smart phones, such as iPhone, tourism companies and government agencies are developing AR applications for interpretation of specific attractions, delivery of guided city tours, etc. Though smart phones provide tourists the interpretation timely on site, the information is static lacking interaction and fun. While some games have been developed for tourists, they are not available onsite for tourists to play in a more contextualized way. To tackle those limitations we propose in this project ARG which combines the power of both AR and computer games, believing that it has huge potential for tourism industry. For example, tourists could play a ‘treasure hunt’ game before the trip to generate interests for a visit; after the trip, the game allows them to recall their experiences; while during the trip, an AR game which joins both the real and virtual world, gives tourists a real, personalized, fun and fantasy experience feeling that they are actually in the game themselves rather than being a separate, exterior entity. ARG combines the real and the virtual worlds in a way that no other type of technology can and will create a new, dynamic experience for tourists. According to World Travel Market Report (2011), the gamification is a major trend for the coming years, which will appeal to consumers across all age demographics.

Methodology

The aim of this project is to use ARG to make tourism experiences more informative, interactive, enjoyable and fun. The methodology includes a combination of social science research methods (qualitative and quantitative) and technical approach (system design). Details could be found in the diagram below. The project initiates from user feedback (social science), leads to system design (ICT), and then seeks more feedback (social science) to improve the design (ICT).
Outcomes:
We aim to publish 3-4 (3 or 4 star) academic journal articles both in the field of tourism and informatics technology. One conference or workshop will be organized in BU to publicize the project. Presentations will also be made at other conferences. This is an inter-disciplinary project which embraces a great fusion between social science and technology. Depending on the research background of the PhD candidate, the focus and contribution of this project may fall into both tourism and ICT.

Academic Impact

This is a new, cutting edge research project, the outcome of which will produce a number of high quality (3 or 4 star) journal articles both in the area of tourism management and ICT. By disseminating our findings from this project into conferences or workshops, we expect to open a new research and development direction to digital technology’s application in tourism among academia from the tourism, ICT, design and technology field.

Societal Impact

Being one of the world’s largest and most pervasive industries, the travel and tourism sector is as exposed as any
other to the forces of change that are being brought about rapid developments in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) arena. Destinations around the world, are investing more on how to use ICT in destination management and marketing. At present, AR represents one of the most promising ICT technologies that offer benefits in various areas such as entertainment, education (interpretation), and tourism.
This project will shape a new, dynamic holiday experience through wide spread digital technology, and have great impact on the society. The project will add to the theory and practice of human computer interaction and will provide valuable methodologies for developing gaming techniques in augmented reality environments creating opportunities for using this in other industries and contexts.

Training Opportunities

Since this is a multi-disciplinary project, we will provide the PhD candidate a comprehensive training opportunity across different levels.
At the university level: the Graduate School offers a serials of programs, designed to support and promote generic and employability skills training for postgraduate researchers, including Research Skills and Techniques; Research Environment; Research Management; Personal Effectiveness; Communication Skills; Networking and Team working; Career Management. These programs provide opportunities to gain an understanding of the broader research environment, develop a PhD student’s conceptual and practical understanding of research and to develop more generic transferable skills, such as communicating to various audiences, negotiation skills and presentation skills.
At the school level: School of Tourism currently runs a methodology training program, including a series of workshops for all PhD students within the school. This program focuses specifically on tourism related subjects. And in DEC, there are high-end Mac PCs in the lab where the PhD student will have an opportunity to familiarize and train himself the design and development of iPhone Apps, with the supervisor and other staff in DEC. These programs will help the candidate to gain an understanding of both social science research methods and technical approaches.

Besides, the candidate will have regular weekly meetings with a cross disciplinary supervisory team. He/she will also have chances to meet other PhD students in the School of Tourism and DEC, discussing and sharing ideas, experiences, challenges and difficulties in a friendly, supporting environment.

The supervisor team will encourage and guide the candidate to write articles and submit to conferences, where he/she could present his/her work, providing valuable experiences to prepare for future viva.

First supervisor

1. Feifei XU

Additional supervisors

2. Feng Tian
3. Dimitrios Buhalis

Recent publications by supervisors relevant to this project

1) Minghetti, V. and Buhalis, D., 2010. Digital divide in tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 49 (3), pp. 267-281. (In Press)
2) Buhalis, D. and Law, R., 2008. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet—The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management, 29 (4), pp. 609-623.
3) Buhalis, D., 2003, eTourism: information technology for strategic tourism management, Pearson (Financial Times/Prentice Hall), London
4) Morgan, M. and Xu, F., 2009. Student Travel Experiences: Memories and Dreams. Journal of Hospitality and Marketing Management, 18 (2&3), pp. 216-236.
5) Weliamto, W.A., Seah, H.S., Tian, F. and Li, L., 2005. Enhancement of Aligning Accuracy on Zooming Camera for Augmented Reality. In: ACE ’05: Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGCHI International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology, 15-17 June 2005, Valencia, Spain, pp. 233-237.

Informal Enquiries

To discuss this opportunity further please contact

Feifei Xu – email: fxu@bournemouth.ac.uk;

Feng Tian – email: ftian@bournemouth.ac.uk or

Dimitrios Buhalis – email: dbuhalis@:bournemouth.ac.uk

How to Apply

Information on how to apply can be found on: http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/graduate_school/apply_phd_studentships.html

IFITT@EyeForTravel Technology Enhanced Tourism Experience Economy Workshop 2012

May 10th, 2012 by Barbara Neuhofer

The International Federation for IT in Travel and Tourism (IFITT), one of the world’s leading tourism and technology organisations, hosted a workshop at the EyeForTravel Travel Distribution Summit Europe in London on 18th April 2012, centred around the cutting-edge topic of “Technology Enabled Tourism Experience Economy”.

Moderated by IFITT President Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis (Bournemouth University), experience innovation leaders from the travel, tourism and hospitality industry and academia discussed how to successfully implement information and communication technologies in order to enhance the experiences for their customers.

Barbara Neuhofer (BU eTourismLab) set the stage with a theoretical introduction to the Technology Enhanced Tourist Experience concept. The presentation was followed by Rainer Schuster (Founder, Pixtri OG), who presented a picture-based search engine to inspire consumers in the dreaming phase of their travel. Adriana Conte (Social Media Programme Manager, VisitBritain) gave insights into how VisitBritain as a national tourism organisation engage consumers through social media. This was followed by a presentation from Noel Hunwick (Owner, Inamo Restaurant London) who talked about the unique dining experience Inamo Restaurants offer to their guest through E-Table, an interactive ordering system. Two presentations from the hospitality industry followed. Carlo Fontana (General Manager, Hotel Lugano Dante) presented on how to enhance the overall guest experience in the hotel by using “High Tech for High Touch”. Finally, Marco Fanton (Social Media Director, Sol Melia Group) showed how Sol Melia Group use social media and technology to engage with and enable their guests to co-create their unique social experience of the Sol Melia brand.

The presentations from different industry perspectives revealed a number of key points of how to enhance experiences in various tourism and hospitality contexts:

1. “Experiences are co-created and technology-enhanced” (Barbara Neuhofer, Bournemouth University)

Today’s tourism experiences are increasingly co-created and technology enhanced. Consumers are now the starting point of experience creation and they are actively involved in co-creating their own personal experiences. It is critical for companies to understand the shift from staging experiences for the consumers to actively engaging consumers, establishing a dialogue with them and facilitating a space of experience creation. New technologies play a key role in this process as they empower consumers and allow creating richer experiences. Technologies accompany tourists in all stages, from the pre- to the during- and post- stages of travel. It is therefore crucial to realise the potential of technology to enhance experiences and create added value for consumers throughout all stages of the travel.

2. “A picture is worth a thousand words” (Rainer Schuster, Pixtri OG)

People have traditionally been searching for travel inspiration and ideas by using keywords. However, as practice shows, people often experience difficulty with expressing their needs in words. This is where PixMeAway comes into place with the key philosophy that pictures say more than thousands words. PixMeAway is a picture based search engine which has been developed to provide consumers a value added service in the pre-trip phase. Rainer Schuster, CEO of Pixtri OG states that this innovative technology provides consumers a new kind of travel inspiration. Consumers select appealing pictures and define their personal travel type which leads to the suggestion of a range of tourism destinations matching these criteria. Rainer emphasised that “trip planning should be fun and pictures constitute a great way to enhance the early stages of travel inspiration and planning”.

3. “Engagement is the key” (Adriana Conte, VisitBritain)

VisitBritain’s Love UK Facebook campaign has allowed the organisation to engage with a large number of fans from all around the world and to promote Britain as a tourist destination by creating a digital ‘global guest book’. As Adriana Conte, VisitBritain’s Social Media Programme Manager shows, combining geo-location and social media (Facebook Places) allows for relationships to be built between overseas tourists and UK visitor attractions. This results in increased exposure for British tourism but also for enhanced tourist experiences in all stages of travel. By ‘checking in’ to places and submitting reviews and recommendations, it is tourists themselves who build content. This can be used by organisations as a source of innovation and new ideas.

4. “Service technologies remain slow to adopt new tech but pace is quickening” (Noel Hunwick, Inamo Restaurant London)

The restaurant business is competitive, and restaurateurs increasingly need to add value through innovative approaches. The Inamo Restaurant in London has been extremely successful in doing just that by introducing E-Table, an interactive ordering system which uses a combination of table touchpads and overhead projection. As the owner Noel Hunwick explains, “the system not only offers core functionality (diners can place orders, call their waiter or order the bill) but also adds charm and theatre to the dining experience”: customers can play games, watch their food being prepared or change the ambiance of the table. Inamo have managed to successfully incorporate technology into the restaurant environment, providing their customers with a holistic immersive experience.

5. “High Tech for High Touch” (Carlo Fontana, Hotel Lugano Dante)

Guest experience constitutes the number one factor when choosing a hotel. Technology provides huge potential to enhance the overall guest experience by engaging guests and staff throughout the multiple touch points during a stay. At Hotel Lugano Dante, iPhones and iPads are used by staff on all levels of the organisation, allowing for full engagement with the guest. Starting from the guest reservation, confirmation, arrival, through restaurant visits and in-room experience, guests are provided with a fully personalised hotel experience. Carlo Fontana, GM of Hotel Lugano Dante, emphasises that “the use of technology can add real value to the service. But the service itself must be of high quality as technology on its own does not provide good service but can only be used to enhance good service.”

6. “Co-create with your audience – make them part of your conversation” (Marco Fanton, Sol Melia Group)

As far as Facebook fans are concerned, Meliá Hotels International is one of the most popular hotel brands in the world. Marco Fanton, the Social Media Director at Sol Melia, believes that following their guests on every step of their journey by engaging in conversations with them is what the Group does best. With a number of original campaigns delivered through various social media platforms, the company has recognised the power of maintaining and managing active conversations with its customers through social media. By letting their staff be part of the conversation or allowing guests to share their culinary experiences with others through various social media channels, the company creates ecosystems of people who conjointly create the brand.

IFITT President Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis says “This event with a strong input from Bournemouth University’s eTourism Lab has shown that technologies and technology enabled services are critical in developing and delivering dynamic tourism experiences.”

See photos of the event here: Flickr