Cyber Physical Exhibitions

Abstract

From the effects of COVID-19, New Zealand’s Tourism Industry has greatly declined due to travel restrictions. With these restrictions it meant the Tourism Industry had to look more into Virtual Tourism. Cyber Physical Exhibitions is an exploration into Virtual Tourism, and looks to further investigate what it could look like with the use of immersive technologies. The project aims to create a mixed environment merging digital and physical elements together. With the project ultimately allowing the user to experience different cities and landscapes in New Zealand. This thesis is very experimental and followed a Research by Design methodology. Where the research consisted of different technological investigations based around AR (Augmented Reality). Different model prototypes were also made to test the digital interface between the AR and a Physical Model. This thesis proposes to use CNC cut models and an AR application on a mobile device. The AR application uses the devices camera to detect the physical model, which launches an AR Portal. The portal opens up to a large scale digital environment where the user can virtually move through it, while still being in the same physical space. The physical models are representative of the space it opens up to, with each AR Portal showing different tourist locations related to that certain model.