4 ms·

I really think something like this will displace some tourism/sightseeing (at least at the margins). I have done a ton of traveling all over the world and would

I really think something like this will displace some tourism/sightseeing (at least at the margins). I have done a ton of traveling all over the world and would much prefer a VR experience like this instead of cramming onto an airplane like cattle for hours, getting accused of being a drug lord at every border crossing, dealing with foreigners who seem to hate Americans, etc. Most tourist cities are pretty much the same anyway; a few jam packed attractions, the strip of overpriced fancy tourist trap restaurants, those gift shops you can buy cheap crap with the city's name on it, luxury hotels, adventure charter companies, etc. Anyway, sorry for the rant but I liken this to going to a football game in the stadium vs. watching at home and I'd much prefer the latter.

qume 10y ago
Wow. You are why united states citizens have such a bad rep overseas. For the sake of the good people of the US im glad you will now only travel in VR
- bitdeveloper 10y ago
  Give me a break. A guy wants to reduce his carbon footprint on the earth and save money and just enjoy a scenic view and that makes him a bad guy?
haydenlee 10y ago
While it's a fair prediction in the long term, I find apps like these make me want to visit the physical locations even more. Just like seeing photos or videos of a foreign city may spark your intrigue, so does Google Earth VR, at least for me.
zardo 10y ago
Seeing the Sahara on a screen, and climbing a sand dune, are two very different experiences.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Depends on one's imaginative capabilities, honestly. Yes, I'm quite serious. What I've been able to do in dreams (controlled or otherwise) rivals any sand-in-hand experience I could have while waking. I won't claim imagination is a pure replacement for personal experience, but there's something special about abstract thought.
  - zardo 10y ago
    I think you're comparing dreams to memories of experiences. Try comparing your dreams to an experience while it's happening, and I think you'll find the dream was not quite so vivid as the feel, taste, smell, and sight of the world.
- prawn 10y ago
  They are, and I've done both. But I think two things will limit the majority of people doing the latter: it's expensive, and some experiences are getting very crowded and even limited by ticket. Things like The Wave, Half Dome, etc are already on permit/lottery systems. Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican). Visiting the Sahara from Morocco requires flights, mixture of land travel including hiring a car or driver, procuring camels and so on. Fine for anyone remotely adventurous, but daunting and expensive for others.
  - ashark 10y ago
    > Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican). I will never, ever go back to Palais Versailles. The gardens, maybe. Inside? Hell no. It was a really long wait to eventually be shoved through a cattle-chute of an experience for a couple hours, barely able to see anything, unable to take enough time to really look around due to the motion of the crowd, some other tourists constantly shoving me, and wishing more than anything that it was over. You'd have to pay me a fair amount of money to do it again. A VR tour of it might be cool, though.
    - 10y ago

qume 10y ago

Wow. You are why united states citizens have such a bad rep overseas. For the sake of the good people of the US im glad you will now only travel in VR

bitdeveloper 10y ago
Give me a break. A guy wants to reduce his carbon footprint on the earth and save money and just enjoy a scenic view and that makes him a bad guy?

haydenlee 10y ago

While it's a fair prediction in the long term, I find apps like these make me want to visit the physical locations even more. Just like seeing photos or videos of a foreign city may spark your intrigue, so does Google Earth VR, at least for me.

zardo 10y ago

Seeing the Sahara on a screen, and climbing a sand dune, are two very different experiences.

6stringmerc 10y ago
Depends on one's imaginative capabilities, honestly. Yes, I'm quite serious. What I've been able to do in dreams (controlled or otherwise) rivals any sand-in-hand experience I could have while waking. I won't claim imagination is a pure replacement for personal experience, but there's something special about abstract thought.
- zardo 10y ago
  I think you're comparing dreams to memories of experiences. Try comparing your dreams to an experience while it's happening, and I think you'll find the dream was not quite so vivid as the feel, taste, smell, and sight of the world.
prawn 10y ago
They are, and I've done both. But I think two things will limit the majority of people doing the latter: it's expensive, and some experiences are getting very crowded and even limited by ticket. Things like The Wave, Half Dome, etc are already on permit/lottery systems. Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican). Visiting the Sahara from Morocco requires flights, mixture of land travel including hiring a car or driver, procuring camels and so on. Fine for anyone remotely adventurous, but daunting and expensive for others.
- ashark 10y ago
  > Other places are so crowded that it seriously impacts the experience (parts of the Louvre, the Vatican). I will never, ever go back to Palais Versailles. The gardens, maybe. Inside? Hell no. It was a really long wait to eventually be shoved through a cattle-chute of an experience for a couple hours, barely able to see anything, unable to take enough time to really look around due to the motion of the crowd, some other tourists constantly shoving me, and wishing more than anything that it was over. You'd have to pay me a fair amount of money to do it again. A VR tour of it might be cool, though.
  - 10y ago