Cyber Tourism.

Front Page What is h2g2? Who's Online Write an Entry Browse Announcement s Feedback h2g2 Help RSS Feeds Contact Us The difference between the tourist and a games player is that the cybertourist is there to admire the view whilst a player is there to play, and playing requires a different mental attitude. The tourist takes the cyber-world seriously, but is free to remain somewhat aloof. A tourist is free to interact with the cyber world using his own rules, rather than to abide by the rules of any game. At present most cyber-tourism cannot be a 'virtual reality' experience as defined by Jaron Lanie,founder of VPL Research (1989). Originally, the term referred to 'Immersive Virtual Reality.' In immersive VR, the user becomes fully immersed in an artificial, three-dimensional world that is completely generated by a computer, for this the user needs something close to a replicated version of the 'virtual reality' environment he is using. For example a car sim' game would require the driver to be sitting inside a [nonfunctional!] car, wearing a headset that allowed the virtual world and physical world to seem one. In other words, the headset provides totally false information about where the driver is going, whilst rumble pads in the seat and the feel of the steering wheel convince him that the illusion is real. VRML is Virtual reality modelling language. VRML provides three-dimensional worlds with integrated hyperlinks on the Web. Home pages become home spaces. The viewing of VRML models via a VRML plug-in for Web browsers is usually done on a graphics monitor under mouse-control and, therefore, not regarded as fully immersive. Now to be honest the only VRML web-site I visited seemed to be about advertising with the option of chatting with your fellow 'consumers'. I would liken it to visiting a shopping mall, so I mention VRML sites only for the sake of providing you with as much information as I can. There is nothing inherently wrong about visiting shopping-malls, and it's a legitimate tourist activity, so please don't be put off by my negativity!http://www.worlds.net/news/PressReleases/prn051.html Warning, upon entering this world you will find yourself in the virtual form of a penguin! To use a computer to visit other-worlds is simplicity itself. Most commonly, a cyber tour is a set of photos of a real or cyber place uploaded to the web and viewed as a web page with helpful text and further links to provide the viewer with background information. Some sites use Java coding to enable you to 'look around' a single photo.........this web format can be likened to reading a book. When you read "Alice in wonderland" you entered wonderland and 'watched' There are many forms of tourism: cultural/sustainable/adventure/heritage/eco-/agri-/. The cyber tourist differs from all other tourists by keeping his corporeal form safely at home The cyber-tourist sits at the computer and views new landscapes. He may inhabit an avatar, a "cyber-body" and wonder around a landscape at will, his visit being motivated by curiosity either about the world he is visiting or about the other humans, plus Artificial intelligence's he may encounter.

the virtual images produced within your mind as Alice's story unfolded. A website may be as interactive as a pop-up-book. Less commonly a cyber-tourist may use a computer to explore places that are nothing more than collections of 1's and 0's, in short are just 'software' requiring the hardware of a computer plus graphics monitor under mousecontrol to become tangible. To take a tour of some really spectacular worlds you will need to use a computer that has at least one of these games installed: Riven, Quake Arena or Unreal Tournament. Most cyber-cafe's will have Quake and Unreal installed.

You can take a virtual tour of Riven on the web, go to http://hometown.aol.com/Chisealpin/riven.html Riven is an extremely beautiful place and very safe on all levels. There are no malicious enemies waiting to ambush you, you can explore at your own pace and the only skill required is to be able to point and click with a mouse. Quake Arena and Unreal tournament are dedicated to a type of on-line game known as DeathMatch, so there will be 'malicious beings' there to attack the tourist unless the tourist plays OFF-LINE and uses the menu to remove any AI's [artificial intelligence's] from the 'maps'. You are free to explore the cathedrals and dungeons once you have chosen a virtual body and familiarised yourself with the movement controls. Quake and Unreal both utilise 'Mouse-Look', this means that your left hand controls the amount of movement [stop, jump, crouch and go] whilst the mouse allows you to look around 360 degrees and determines direction of movement. Quake Arena could be described by the epitome of a Gothic game......The term Gothic was first used during the later Renaissance, [and as a term of contempt]. "Then arose new architects who after the manner of their barbarous nations erected buildings in that style which we call Gothic (dei Gotthi)." Florentine historiographer Giorgio Vasari was the first to label the architecture of preceding centuries "Gothic," in reference to the tribes that overran the Roman empire in the sixth century. Vasari implied that this architecture was debased, especially compared to that of his own time, which had revived the forms of classical antiquity. The Arena Eternal is, in effect a Valhalla where heroes enjoy fighting for many hours. The combatants are intent upon battle and will get you 'kicked' from the game should you fail to join in so it is essential for any tourist to make sure the Arena is empty before starting to explore the cathedrals and dungeons. This link will take you to the Cathdral area of Brimstone Abbey. http://www.btinternet.com/~rideflame/brimstone.html Unreal Tournament has many places that induce vertigo. I can't imagine how terrifying some of it's environments would be if the player wore a headset....but I look forwards to finding out. It is not a Gothic 'world,' more a science fiction realm, deserted factories, landscapes floating in the immense void of space or finding yourself on board an alien space craft or an ancient galleon at sea.

Unlike the VRML world I visited, you can push and use things in Quake and Unreal, this makes the places 'feel' more real along side the fact that you can get your avatar-self hurt or killed by falling or stepping into lava! One final form of cyber-tourism would be analogous to adventure-tourism. This would be to enter an on-line game with fellow tourists and led by an experienced guide who would show you around or lead you through a game. This would be ideal for people who were interested in the experience of gaming but didn't feel inclined to invest any time or money into acquiring skills or hardware. Finally my term cyber-tourist exists as a different spelling. Hackers use the word turist. Turist, is defined by the free on-line dictionary' as " A guest on the system, especially one who generally logs in over a network from a remote location for comm mode, electronic mail, games and other trivial purposes". As with most hacker stuff, the word turist is slightly derogatory, so I shall finish this with a quote from Bertrand Russell! "The time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted." And to say that should you want any help regarding taking tours of cyber-places, please get in touch. Meanwhile, here is a tour of Brimstone Abbey: http://www.btinternet.com/~rideflame/Arena/BrimStoneTour.html

Cyber-tourism: A New Form of Tourism Experience

2005 Tourism Recreation Research It has become fashionable to identify and define specific types of tourist activity such as heritage tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism and so on. To add yet another specific type of tourism, in this case cyber-tourism, to the language of tourism risks the danger of the concept being lost amongst the many other identified types of tourism activity or simply being swept up in an aggregate sense as another type of niche tourism. However, to fail to identify cyber-tourism as a new and specific form of tourism experience risks allowing the many opportunities available in the cyber field being dispersed amongst other already identified types of tourism activity. This special issue recognises the existence of cyber tourism as a new type of tourism experience that entails the use of new technologies to achieve a tourism experience. Prideaux and Singer (this issue) define cyber-tourism as an electronically simulated travel experience that is a substitute for a physical tourism experience. They suggest that this type of tourism will allow participants to travel to places via new technologies free of the usual restrictions of time, distance, cost and human frailty. The contemporary world is more open to travel than at any time in the past. Few borders are closed to travellers, and cost rather than politics is the major inhibitor to travel. From the standpoint of 2005, the opportunities for further expansion of tourism appear almost boundless. The global economy continues to grow, powered by the expansion of the US and Chinese economies. War on any major scale looks less likely than any time in the past century and new technologies, particularly in transport and IT, appear to lay the foundation for continuing growth of global tourism flows. The factors that may inhabit future economic growth

include rising fuel prices, declining oil reserves and global warming. . To add yet another specific type of tourism, in this case cyber-tourism, to the language of tourism risks the danger of the concept being lost amongst the many other identified types of tourism activity or simply being swept up in an aggregate sense as another type of niche tourism. However, to fail to identify cyber-tourism as a new and specific form of tourism experience risks allowing the many opportunities available in the cyber field being dispersed amongst other already identified types of tourism activity. This special issue recognises the existence of cyber tourism as a new type of tourism experience that entails the use of new technologies to achieve a tourism experience. Prideaux and Singer (this issue) define cyber-tourism as an electronically simulated travel experience that is a substitute for a physical tourism experience. They suggest that this type of tourism will allow participants to travel to places via new technologies free of the usual restrictions of time, distance, cost and human frailty. Cyber-tourism in the many forms described in this special issue will continue to grow particularly as new technologies are developed and introduced into the global marketplace. The reason for growth may be the result of positive forces including continuing peace and global economic growth, negative forces such as a reduction in affluence or a less peaceful future global political system or just because the technology is available. The papers in this special issue explore a number of the fascinating aspects of cyber-tourism that are currently beginning to emerge. For example, Vijayakumar and Dileep examine how new communications technologies have been employed by Ayurveda medical practitioners to promote the value of this ancient form of Indian medicine and develop it as a new tourism experience. Myung, Morrison and Taylor take a different perspective and examine how new cyber technologies can assist convention organizers decide on which facility to choose for their conference, perhaps foreshowing new forms of business-to-business relations in a future cyber-world. Buhalis and OConnor expose the reader to how new Information Communication Technology networks have the potential to revolutionize the tourism industry. At a different level, Benckendorff, Moscardo and Murphys paper examines how new technologies can be

applied to enhance the visitor experience while Cooper and MacNeil look at the potential of virtual reality. Forrester and Singh bring to our attention the increasing number of contrived landscapes where experiences are sanitized and commodified and that increasingly rely on technology to offer new levels of escapism. Cyber-tourism: New Experience: B. Prideaux 6 Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 30, No. 3, 2005 Anwar and Hamiltons contribution suggests some future applications for cyber-tourism technology at the national level, examining a range of implications for Australia. Rosss contribution explores a range of very significant issues related to the ethical dimensions of cybertourism by noting the concern that some commentators have expressed that it may eventually destroy the mechanisms used by individuals to create social capital. The papers in this special issue touch briefly on the possible range of issues that will emerge as cyber-tourism, in its many forms, evolves in the future. As has been demonstrated many times in the past, yesterdays science fiction has an uncanny habit of transforming itself into todays science fact. Some of the ideas canvassed in this special issue have a science fiction like quality but in the future may become science fact. Richard Bransons announcement (The Courier Mail 2005) that commercial space flights operated by Virgin Galactic will commence in 2008 with a ticket price of AUS $275,000 per seat for a sevenminute experience of space demonstrate the validity of the fiction to fact continuum. It is highly probable that in the next few years further advances in science will create opportunities for cyber-tourism to offer a far wider variety of experiences and with a greater sense of authenticity than is conceivable today. The danger is that the blurring of reality and fantasy will impact on some currently accepted paradigms of tourism operations. How the tourism industry responds will determine whether in the future tourism shifts towards the entertainment industry or remains, as it is today, a major identifiable industry. There are also a range of ethical issues that will need to be addressed. How will the ability to enter the cyber realm, where the impossible in the physical world becomes the norm in the cyber-world, change peoples perception of reality and even identification with a physical

or cyber self? Will the opening of the mind to the possibilities of cyber experiences give external agencies direct access to a persons mind? These are significant questions that must be addressed before technologies of this capability are introduced, rather than after the technologies have been introduced. Reference THE COURIER MAIL (2005). Countdown Initiated for 2007 Virgin Space Flight. 28 July: 15. Bruce Prideaux Guest Editor

Disadvantage of tourism

Spelling error of tourism in IT

Cyber-tourist exists as a different spelling. Hackers use the word turist. Turist, is defined by the free on-line dictionary' as " A guest on the system, especially one who generally logs in over a network from a remote location for comm mode, electronic mail, games and other trivial purposes". As with most hacker stuff, the word turist is slightly derogatory, so I shall finish this with a quote from Bertrand Russell! "The time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted." And to say that should you want any help regarding taking tours of cyber-places, please get in touch. Meanwhile, here is a tour of Brimstone Abbey:
http://www.btinternet.com/~rideflame/Arena/BrimStoneTour.html

Fail to identify types of tourism activity through IT

To add yet another specific type of tourism, in this case cyber-tourism, to the language of tourism risks the danger of the concept being lost amongst the many other identified types of tourism activity or simply being swept up in an aggregate sense as another type of niche tourism. However, to fail to identify cyber-tourism as a new and specific form of tourism experience risks allowing the many opportunities available in the cyber field being dispersed amongst other already identified types of tourism activity. This special issue recognises the existence of cyber tourism as a new type of tourism experience that entails the use of new technologies to achieve a tourism experience. Prideaux and Singer (this issue) define cyber-tourism as an electronically simulated travel experience that is a substitute for a physical tourism experience. They suggest that this type of tourism will allow participants to travel to places via new technologies free of the usual restrictions of time, distance, cost and human frailty. ant any help regarding taking tours of cyber-places, please get in touch.

Reference THE COURIER MAIL (2005). Countdown Initiated for 2007 Virgin Space Flight. 28 July: 15. Bruce Prideaux Guest Editor

N0 3. To add yet another specific type of tourism, in this case cyber-tourism, to the language of tourism risks the danger of the concept being lost amongst the many other identified types of tourism activity or simply being swept up in an aggregate sense as another type of niche tourism. However, to fail to identify cyber-tourism as a new and specific form of tourism experience risks allowing the many opportunities available in the cyber field being dispersed amongst other already identified types of tourism activity. This special issue recognises the existence of cyber tourism as a new type of tourism experience that entails the use of new technologies to achieve a tourism experience. Prideaux and Singer (this issue) define cyber-tourism as an electronically simulated travel experience that is a substitute for a physical tourism experience. They suggest that this type of tourism will allow participants to travel to places via new technologies free of the usual restrictions of time, distance, cost and human frailty.