We’ve all been there, excited for our holiday, only to arrive and realise those hotel website snaps were 12 years out of date and even then taken from a flattering angle.
The days of boxy hotel room surprises could soon be over, however, with internet booking agent Expedia reportedly working on VR hotel room experiences.
Letting you try before you fly, the VR hotel rooms would let you get a better idea idea of the true size and layout of the booking before committing to a week in pokey room misery.
All you’ll need to do is don a compatible VR headset and take a look around as if you were really there.
According to Mashable, Expedia has already started trialling the tech, and demos are more interactive than you’d expect, letting users slide open doors using their controllers and even step out on to the room’s balcony.
The holiday seller has claimed VR could be used to enhance other travel experiences too, such as for those booking a cruise.
"If you're going to make the decision of [booking] a cruise, wouldn't it be cool if you could check out the ship [virtually] before you spend that much money?" said Arthur Chapin, Expedia's Senior Vice President, Product and Design.
Smarter holiday
Expedia isn’t the only one jumping on the VR bandwagon. A new report from Greenlight Insights, found by Variety, predicts the VR market with generate revenues of $7.17 billion this year.
As headsets such as the HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR grow in popularity, this is only set to continue, with revenues tipped to reach a staggering $75 billion as early as 2021.
Although VR is a key focus, it’s not the only emerging tech Expedia is looking to adopt as part of the future booking process. Elsewhere, voice controlled smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home have caught the company’s attention.
"I think voice is something that will become a part of how people interact with travel," said Mr Chapin.
"So we're continuing to experiment with voice, and chatbots - not only on the consumer side but also on the partner side, so our hotel [clients] can interact with us through such chats."
It’s currently unclear when any of these techy booking tools will be available to the masses.
