Recent data from Tourism Research Australia found that domestic tourism slumped by $21.7 billion in the first half of 2020 compared to the same period last year.
Some are experiencing a more immersive travel experience in virtual reality (VR) at residential aged care facilities through a headset that places the user within their chosen setting.
Melbourne technology start-up SilVR Adventures began offering this experience to aged care facilities last year.
A 2016 survey found that just over a quarter of Australian retailers planned to adopt VR within the next 12 months, but it also found that over half of the business leaders surveyed did not have a mobile app or mobile website.
Dr Chandler is doubtful of the ability for general users, including baby boomers, to widely use virtual reality technology which needs to run on a powerful computer accompanied by high internet speed.
It’s kind of accessibility for these technologies. There is a lot of people using the internet, quite a lot but the steps to kind of put on a virtual reality headset is something else. I think this is going to be a big change in society in the next decade or so but it’s kind of hard to predict how many people will take up virtual reality not having a headset at home.
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