NEW DELHI: Air travellers, taking flight from Delhi airport, can entertain themselves with a ‘virtual reality show’ as the authority has created ‘virtual reality dome’ at the departure terminal, where audio-visuals programmes on several topics such as urban landscape and the ice age are screened.The dome, a mini planetarium having a semi-circular structure is located near Gate 41. It is equipped with a curved screen that gives a life-size cinematic platform to provide real immersive end-to-end travel experiences, said an official of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).
“One can choose from a range of virtual reality content, such as roller-coaster, urban landscape, iceage, etc that displays the scenic view in the curated form of storytelling,” said the official.DIAL also claimed that the facility is the world’s first of its kind in the world.
“This dome has been designed and conceptualized in a way that passengers of all age groups can enjoy the virtual reality shows for a period ranging from 7 minutes to 15 minutes at any time of the day,” added the official.
The Virtual Reality Dome remains open round the clock. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic the dome, which measures about five meters in diameter, allows only eight people at a time to be seated at social distances.
“With proper sanitisation in place, passengers enter the dome with shoes covered to contain spread of contamination, maintain hygiene and keep the carpet clean. Once people leave, the seats are again sanitised to provide them with a virus-free environment,” the official said.About 80 people on an average are witnessing the virtual travel experience per day.
Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive officer (CEO) of DIAL, said, “With the launch of the world’s first Virtual Reality Dome at the airport, we continue with our commitments to provide an enhanced travel experience to our passengers. The launch of this platform has been done keeping all safety measures in place given the coronavirus outbreak all over the world.”
The digital platform has been developed by a Hyderabad based concessionaire that integrates 360-degree virtual reality content for the global travel and tourism industry.