Ving takes the next step in VR: Guided tours in Facebook Spaces

Facebook Spaces is a venue where you can meet your friends in VR (Virtual Reality). In this VR world, you can socialize, show 360-images and movies, draw, take selfies and much more.

Jonas Carlson Almqvist, at Ving, has been working with what is termed "immersive media" since the nineties.

- Finally, you can experience 360-movies and images together with other people, and this is just the beginning. In the near future you will be able to communicate and share your experiences with others, according to Jonas Carlson Almqvist, Senior Web Developer at Ving/Thomas Cook.

Facebook Spaces is, at present, a beta version. But as Ving acknowledges the potential in displaying resorts and hotels, a test project has been launched. Movies have been produced to show some of Ving’s destinations and hotels, among them the ever popular Alcudia on Mallorca, as well as the Greek island of Lefkas. Also shown is one of the most popular family resorts: Sunwing Fañabé Beach on Teneriffa.

-This new feature enables us to reach our customers in a new and innovative manner, and in time our travel advisors and customers could meet in a virtual world for guided tours. We always aim to evaluate new technology and stay up front, and this is the reason for this test, to decide if this is something we will invest in for the future, says Karin Eriksson, Social Media Manager at Ving.

Ving’s guided tour 
To visit Ving in Facebook Spaces, you need a Facebook profile and a particular VR-headset; Oculus Rift. Then you create an avatar (animated character), after which you and other visitors are free to experience Ving’s world and join a guided tour. Ving’s guides will describe the surroundings and share their best tips whilst moving from poolside at Gran Canaria to a beach in Thailand and further on.

Some of the destinations that can be experienced in Ving’s VR video:

• Mallorca – Alcudia
• Thailand – Similan Island
• Greece – Lefkas
• Tenerife – Sunwing Fañabé Beach
• Thailand – Chicken Island
• Thailand - Koh Mook

About VR
VR, Virtual Reality, has been around for a long time, but it is not until recently that the technology has been made available to everybody. VR is a computer technology replicating an environment, real or imagined, whilst at the same time simulating the user’s physical presence to enable interaction with other users. Virtual reality creates artificial sensory experiences that may encompass vision, feel, hearing etc.

For further information, please contact: 
Karin Eriksson, Social Media Manager, Ving, telephone +46-709-513091, Karin.eriksson@ving.se 
Jonas Carlson Almqvist, Senior web developer, Ving/Thomas Cook, telephone +46-8-55513430, Jonas.carlson@thomascook.se

View the VR videos here: Thomas Cook Northern Europe Facebook short: http://thomascook.streamingbolaget.se/video/193760/link

Thomas Cook Northern Europe Facebook Spaces long: 
http://thomascook.streamingbolaget.se/video/193763/link

Original files for download: https://we.tl/OIv8OE3qqr

www.ving.se. www.facebook.com/vingresor