vEU | Devpost

Inspiration

Tourism industry would be one of the hardest hit during and after the outbreak. With travel restrictions in place, it is unknown when can we move as freely as before. At the same time, numerous businesses, historical sights, national landmarks, museum and other places that rely on foot traffic would struggle to keep afloat.

While I do not assume that the outbreak would go on forever, I am inclined to believe that this sudden force to change and adapt to our daily lives, has caused a boost in tech savviness. If people were putting it off before, they are now forced to learn new technologies, either because of their work or simply out of boredom. This could be very beneficial for applications and platforms that incorporate VR/AR or 360 videos.

What it does

vEU is a virtual travel platform, that allows anyone, by themselves or with their friends, to travel around EU countries. It would be a gamified travel experience which includes natural landscapes, historical sights, museums, landmarks and any other business in the travel industry that would like to join.

During the outbreak, it could serve as an entertainment platform, seeing new places and meeting local people from a safe distance. Quite possibly, fostering an interest in traveling to new destinations you haven't consider before.

After the outbreak, if the EU has interesting in officially supporting the platform, it will be a great promotion tool, allowing the whole world to see the beauty of Europe.

How I built it

This is a newly formed idea that I would like to start working on.

Challenges I ran into

There are a few challenges that I already foresee and trying to come up with a way to alleviate them.

For example, this platform would be best experienced through VR headset that a lot of people simply don't have, even if their phone support it. 360 videos have their advantages, but they do not allow full emergence.

Another thing to consider is how to monetize the platform in a way where the struggling business could earn some income without costing too much for the virtual tourist. I have a few ideas about that as well.