Page 7 - YOU Magazine | Issue 2

Physical Disability Australia’s Simon Burchill, whose organisation works to promote the rights, responsibilities, issues and participation of people with physical disability, says the obvious benefit of VR tourism is that travellers with disability will not be challenged by the barriers placed in their way by operators who have not taken the time to make their vehicles and accommodation accessible.
He says they may also be protected from some of the risks associated with in-person travel too.
However, Simon believes
overall this type of technology
will do little to address the main issue faced by its members when traveling to high profile, high traffic tourist destinations, such as the inaccessibility of vehicles (be they planes, buses, boats, etc) and a lack of consistent quality in accessible accommodation.
Whilst he has yet to survey
his members on the technology, Simon says VR tourism clearly has its limitations and he worries that it may serve as an excuse for
operators who need to make their services genuinely accessible, but haven’t yet done so.
“Tourists with disability are being denied the authentic experience. They are also being denied the opportunity to accept certain risks.”
“Travel is about the destination, the people you meet there and the natural and cultural features it has. Looking at recorded images and hearing recorded sounds (no matter how skilfully they are rendered) is likely to be a poor substitute.”
A new era of VR tourism
For more than a decade Kadi and Matt Coyle have made it their business to maximise the experiences of travellers in their care.
Having met whilst working as international flight attendants, the pair opened up their own agency, The Melbourne Travel Project,
last November with the express purpose of assisting travel lovers to explore beyond traditional tourist destinations.
But, after COVID-19 travel bans brought tourism to a standstill
in March, the agency turned its attention to VR technology as a way of allowing those who are physically unable to travel the chance to discover something new.
Utilising Google Cardboard, the $36 device works by allowing travellers to use their own smartphone as a display and sensor. The technology works when the user, having already downloaded the appropriate VR app, inserts their phone into the cardboard headset and it then generates the virtual reality of their choosing.
Matt says that everyone should be allowed to experience the wonders of travel without limitation.
“These headsets are their tickets to opening up a brand new world and discovering something new. For a moment you can be
a kid again and just disappear. Travel to us is not just looking at historical sites, it’s the things you experience when you are there, so what we have put together gives you that sense of awe you get when travelling. You can look up, down, to the side and behind you - just be part of your surroundings. It’s very immersive.”
You WINTER 2020 7