An increasing number of visitor attractions such as museums, art galleries and historical sites are turning to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to enhance the experience for visitors. The Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco can also now be added to that list with the introduction of new AR and VR visitor attractions.
The new attractions as the Aquarium of the Bay consist of the AR experiences titles The Ocean Adventure and The Arctic Explorer, along with a VR experience that allows visitors to swim with whales.
The AR attraction will be launched on Monday 14th August and will be sponsored by Big Bus Tours. The attraction will be shown in the Farallon Room and will allow visitors to experience two different AR-enhanced shows, The Ocean Adventure and the Arctic Explorer. The films will be broadcast on a 20ft screen that will allow guests to see whales, dolphins, penguins and seal closer than ever before. Preview videos of the two AR features are available to view below.
Also being launched at the Aquarium of the Bay is a VR experience created by tech expert Andrew Bleiman and Lumiere VR co-founder Travis Wu, who took on the challenge of presenting a VR experience to a large audience. The VR headsets and software are custom-made for the aquarium, with technology that allows the VR film to be synced up for a shared experience.
The first VR film to be showcased will be an experience created by Sandy Smolan and James Nestor called ‘The Click Effect’ a film that examines the language of whales and dolphins and how they communicate – even when miles apart.
Further information can be found on the Aquarium of the Bay website.
VRFocus will continue to report on new VR and AR experiences.
