Rizort Inc. adds several new locations to its collaborative vacation planning VR app.
According to a recent Forbes survey, 77% of people who use VR want more social engagement, and I’ve long believed social is they key to getting the tech to a mass-market stage, but that needs to be done in the context of things that people already want to do rather than gimmicks.
Booking travel is one of those strange things that are simultaneously pleasurable and a complete nightmare, so any way that technology can improve on the experience is likely to fall under that desirable category.
Rizort is a web and VR platform that already focuses on optimizing that process, describing itself as an “experience-driven vacation marketplace” so it’s a natural fit to try and do that.
“Travel is a social experience. Planning and booking a vacation is a clear example of that and can sometimes be a grueling task. Forty percent of users prefer using VR in the company of others and the latest version of the Rizort VR app does just that. We want all travelers to be able interact in a fun and collaborative way in the process,” says Sachin Kanodia, CEO of Rizort.
The Rizort VR app works on headsets such as the Oculus Go and Samsung Gear to allow potential guests to virtually explore hotels, resorts and experiences from anywhere in the world. It also supports a multiuser mode where several people can check out a location or experience at the same time and compare notes and impressions, thus maximizing the chances of making everyone happy with the final booking.
Recently, Rizort added Dubai, Mexico and the Caribbean to its growing roster of destination offerings. Current destinations also include Bali, Thailand, the Maldives and destinations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Fiji and Japan will be added in 2019.
Their hope is that the mixture of VR and 360 degree video will do a better job of enticing customers to try the destinations for real than a photo gallery or glossy brochure ever could.
“The guest can simply stroll through the hotel areas such as lobby, swimming pool, rooms, restaurants, bar etc to really understand the property better.”
To date, the San-Francisco based company has raised $2.9M dollars in seed funding to develop its platform, which uses a proprietary algorithm to match user intent to highly curated luxury hotels, resorts and experiences across multiple destinations.
So far, Rizort says they are very pleased with the results of the VR social feature and plan to keep making enhancements to the platform to further integrate the booking process into the virtual reality experience, making it into one seamless immersive travel platform.
Image Credit: Rizort Inc.
