One is interesting, two is a co-incidence and three is a feature. Or, in this case, a blog post.
The 1-2-3 motto is a benchmark which journalists use to determine whether there is a story worth writing. If three things happen in a short space of time, concerning the same subject, that’s no co-incidence.
That’s a story.
My three relate to technology: virtual reality, drones and wearable technology. No matter how smart or clever the product, it’s not going to add to travel’s social media armoury if it’s:
a) expensive
b) a pain
c) iffy.
I had really high hopes of Fly Nixie. It was marketed as a wearable camera drone that could fly off your wrist to follow you, say, down a ski slope or on a tightrope. The potential for use in travel blogging was huge and the promo video was excellent:
That was September 2014 and it’s still not available. In the last year, there have been fewer than a dozen tweets on its account. This month, it tweeted that it was “time for Nixie to leave the Nixie Lab” and released a truly dreadful mock-up video from its CEO:
Will it ever fly? Well, it’s looking distinctly: there are a lot of drones now out there unlikely and the goodwill is much lessened.
The second news story to prick up the ears was that virtual reality is falling behind sales predictions. More than two million headsets were slated to sell in 2016, the year the big brands were released, but the target was missed by 300,000.
Not disastrous – but compare that with the 3.3m Apple iPhones sold in the first six months of debut in 2007, as pointed out in Behind the Numbers of Virtual Reality’s Sluggish Debut technology review
There have been a number of reports debating whether VR is stalling, and the reasons, including the high costs. iReTron has asked; is virtual reality stalling? While Retail Wire questions what’s stalling the virtual reality market?
The iReTron report refers to the failure of 3D films and TVs and suggested that the need to wear glasses diminished the appeal. You can see the same issue relating to VR headsets.
They are great for gaming – and instructional or educational simulations. Have a look at the 5 simulation games we’re dying to see VR versions of as an example. But there has not been an overwhelming case for travel. So far.
Facebook, which owns the Oculus headset, says it is taking “a long-term approach,” saying it could be a decade before the technology is mature enough to meet expectations – an awfully long time when technology is evolving so fast.
Thirdly, drones. There is no doubt that sales are increasing fast. That growth is mirrored by increased rules regarding usage, non-licenced usage and diversifying usage, such as home deliveries.
But most travel usage is of low fly-bys over water, cliffs and cities like seen here:
My point here is that the technology is more usable than VR or wearables and is becoming less expensive – however, most travel footage has lacked imagination.
Of the three new, emerging technologies suited to travel, drones have the legs. Indeed, there is increasingly better editing to splice in land-based video alongside more sparse usage of drone film.
The choice, cost and quality of drone cameras is also improving: the Best Drones for Travel Photography Now I await better results, with more imagination and pizazz.
Bring it on!