It takes a bit more for visitors to be impressed by your virtual reality attraction than slapping on a VR headset and hope they’ll ‘enjoy the ride’. When designing VR for tourist attractions, several steps have to be taken into account to make it successful. On this page we will list the most important steps.

1. What’s the target audience?

If you cater to 12-year old children, your strategy will differ from mostly senior citizens as the intended audience. Think about both the physical properties of your audience and their technological expertise. Ease-of use is important for every target audience, but there are definitely differences between user groups. This applies to both hardware and software, what leads us to the next step…

2. Don’t make your guests sick

There’s a reason snacks at tourist spots are usually bland and basic. If you push the limits you will lose a part of your audience. With VR for tourist attractions you’d better err on the side of caution, so don’t push the limits on immersion right away.

If the 3D effect is too strong, or there’s too much movement in the presentation you might make people sick to their stomach. That’s not good for business, nor for the unfortunate person that has to clean up the mess.

3. Combine real with virtual

If you really want to create a great experience you should incorporate real-life elements to the attraction, like a decorated entrance of even a customized VR headset. Gently ease the user in the experience for maximum impact. You can play with expectations.

For instance, if you have a virtual roller coaster let the visitors strap in with an actual seat belt. Does it add to the safety? No way. Does it add to the immersion? Most definitely.

4. Don’t skimp on quality

Some exhibitors seem to think using VR for tourist attractions is a shortcut to easy money. You don’t need to build anything, just slap on a headset, like the Oculus Quest, and enjoy the show. Make sure the content in the VR headset is worth looking at, with visuals that exceed what you can watch on a mobile phone.
By offering a subpar experience you are basically telling your audience quality doesn’t matter. And that can’t be the message.

5. Make sure the experience is fun

Don’t just jump on the virtual bandwagon because all ‘the cool kids’ are doing it, make an effort to create a new and exciting experience. A professional VR agency will help you with that by determining the possibilities, the budget and the intended result. VR for tourist attractions should be fun, exciting and memorable.