The Metaverse is a hot topic that has been discussed extensively. It is a virtual universe where everyone with their Internet connection and appropriate devices can enter and interact with each other. With a rich variety of use cases ranging from gaming and entertainment to education and the military, the Metaverse is predicted to change our life drastically in the near future. Besides, everything in the Metaverse is designed to bring users the most vivid and real experiences without moving to the real location. Therefore, it is used to develop virtual travel. In this article, we are going to explore how the Metaverse will change the travel industry. Virtual Tourism Virtual Reality was used in travel a long time ago by many companies to attract their customers. With VR technology, tourists can experience trips with a small budget and save a lot of time instead of spending thousands of dollars and hours to travel in real life. Moreover, customers can use VR tech to try out the trip before buying the ticket and setting their foot to the real destination. In addition, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel confidence of people was still lacking, VR is a good solution as it allows people to experience new places without getting out of their houses. Virtual Tourism in the Metaverse Have you ever imagined what would it be like if there were just you in this world? This is what you experience in virtual travel. Staying for so long in a space alone may make you bored and demotivated. You may see other people but they are nothing but images programmed on computers. As we know, the Metaverse is a place for everyone to interact with each other. Therefore, we will not be alone when experiencing virtual travel in the Metaverse. You can share and talk about the breathtaking landscape in front of your eyes with your friends or family. You can also meet strangers and make new friends. Those are what make virtual travel in the Metaverse outstanding. Moreover, with the development of AR and VR technology lately, users can use along with virtual headsets haptic suits, and gloves to have more real feelings in the virtual world. This will help to complete the experience of travel in the Metaverse. Travel to another planet in the Metaverse Humans have always been excited about exploring the universe and seeking life on other planets. Besides, is said that one day, our Earth will die and not be compatible for life anymore, so searching for another place to live is necessary. It was NASA and now SpaceX is famous for spending millions of dollars on exploring Mars. Building a place to live on Mars will not only satisfy the humans’ desire of living outside the Earth but also help to solve many problems such as the exorbitant price of real estate or lacking accommodation. As claimed by Elon Musk, if everything goes to plan, a self-sustaining city will be shaped on Mars in 2050, which is a quite long time for us to wait. Therefore, many companies are now building cities on Mars in the Metaverse so that people can try out how it is to live on another planet. Apart from providing users with useful information about how to adapt to life outside our Earth, living on Mars in the Metaverse also brings users an exciting and entertaining experience. The Metaverse and future mobility Apart from tourism, the Metaverse will also have some effects on transportation as it helps to reduce face-to-face interaction. Working from home utilizing the Internet connection has been used widely since the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many platforms that facilitate teamwork online such as Microsoft Team, Google Meet, or Zoom. However, one of the biggest drawbacks of this method is that it reduces considerably the interaction between people as well as the productivity of working or studying. That’s why we need some Metaverse platforms for everyone to come and work or study online with higher interaction. This will help to make working from home more popular intensively. Besides, with the development of haptic equipment, users will be able to observe and feel the product without coming to the store; therefore, saving a lot of time and money spending on travel expenses. Most of the traffic jams during rush hours are caused by people traveling to work and to school. Hence, working and studying from home in the Metaverse will significantly solve the problems of transportation such as traffic jams, car accidents, etc. On the other hand, reducing transportation will make huge changes. Particularly, transport sales such as cars or motorbikes will decrease along with the decrease in the needs of people. Taxis or public transportation will, instead of carrying people, convey products more as more people choose to stay at home and make orders. Advertisements will be shifted into the Metaverse when people choose to stay home more. There will be fewer promotion panels on the stores or buildings along the streets. Conclusion Generally speaking, the Metaverse will reduce travel and transportation in real life, which will help people to save a lot of time and money. However, virtual travel can only be used to stimulate users with new ways of experiencing things or used in unavoidable situations, or to support real-life experiences, and it cannot, of course, replace real experiences. Specifically, travel in the Metaverse cannot be as real as travel to the true destination. Long and tired as the journey may be, you can enjoy the beautiful and incredible landscape along the way. Besides, we will soon experience a huge change in the structure of the economy since the decrease in the market need for transportation.
