A sold out event taking place in Manchester this week will explore the implications of new technologies for travel and tourism businesses.
With a focus on “augmented reality”, the event, which is organised by the Creative Augmented Realities Hub from Manchester Metropolitan University and hosted at Barclays Rise Manchester, will include presentations from professionals and researchers alongside demonstrations of real-life examples of applications developed by companies such as Centre Screen, Draw and Code.
Speakers include experts from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the University of Birmingham, alongside industry trailblazers from Barclays, Hobs Studio and Samsung.
Topics will include gamification, augmented reality payment solutions and augmented reality education.
The event is sponsored by the International Federation of IT in Travel and Tourism.
Conference Organiser Dr Timothy Jung, Director of the Creative Augmented Realities Hub at Manchester Met said: “This is a first of its kind international event on augmented reality and visitor economy in Manchester, and will bring together expertise from leading academics and industry professionals.
“Augmented reality is a new and innovative technology for the visitor economy and we at the Creative Augmented Realities Hub are delighted to host the Augmented Reality IFITTtalk@Manchester as it will identify latest developments, trends and opportunities within augmented reality for the future of the visitor economy in Manchester and other cities in the UK.”
Dr Mandy tom Dieck, from Creative Augmented Realities Hub at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Hollings Faculty, said: “Augmented reality has become the next big thing on the technology market and more and more organisations and destinations offer mobile augmented reality applications to overlay digital content into users’ direct environment.
“Augmented reality has been identified to effectively improve users’ experience in various contexts. More recently, the economic benefits of augmented reality came into focus. This conference will interdisciplinary explore latest trends, benefits and challenges in the context of augmented reality and smart tourism.”
