Cyber Travel Could Save Us Time, Money, and Aggravation Especially Around the Holidays

Is "Cyber Travel" a technology whose time has finally come? I feel that it could be the most incredible thing to touch a great many peoples lives in such a way that puts them right in the action in real time without them having to leave their house.

It has become widely acceptable to use the Internet to communicate directly with friends and family over great distances instantly. Using technology like "Skype" Video calling you can not only hear your friends and family, now you can also see them as though you are all in the same room together. I can easily imagine a much more advanced system which would allow for a realistic live three dimensional image with audio that makes it feel just like you are in the same room with all your friends and family.

Imagine being able to have Thanksgiving with your loved ones and never leave your home. It would also be nice if you could just disconnect when the ritualistic annual family argument begins at Thanksgiving supper. How nice it would be to not fight over whose family you are going to visit this Christmas because you can use the Internet to see all of them at once!

My primary idea for Cyber travel would be done in a way that everyone I wanted to see on a specific holiday would be scheduled for a live video visit at a specific time on each major holiday. They make the connection requesting me to do the same, and in an instant we are using live video and audio to celebrate the holiday together.

With this system you could visit your family members all over the world in an instant. What if you have a family member in the service and you could use a simple system to connect a live stream directly to them. This could make them feel like they were home for the holidays!

The second method would be to tag along electronically when someone I know takes a vacation to a destination that I would love to see but perhaps cannot afford to go just yet. The idea would be the same as my holiday Cyber travel idea except this time I would be present whenever I wanted to pop in and see what the travelers are up to at the destination.

I would connect to their personal Cyber Link address and ask them to reply. They could do the tourist part for me and would then show me the things that they were seeing and doing via live feeds, or they could keep me in the loop by recording the action and sending me the video later using on-line resources like "Drop Box"

If this idea were to perhaps evolve into a service where a traveler could connect with a Cyber Buddy who would electronically travel along with the person who is on the road, then the home bound party could see and hear all the action as though they were right there. With a Cyber Based Travel System (CBTS) more people who cannot get out of the house for various reasons could tag along using you as their personal transporter.

There are plenty of resources available on the Internet already which can be the backbone of a Cyber travel industry starting with the full three dimensional 360 degree views of hotels and resorts. You can find restaurants and cars that have this same technology, all that would be missing is the smells of each location.

How cool would it be to go to Las Vegas, Australia, and New Orleans all on the same day? It seems to me there is a large segment of our population who would love to see Paris in their sleeping pants. You can already find Cyber Tours of great resorts and popular destinations which are being used as a sales tool to get people to go there, so why not expand on this idea and offer a true Cyber vacation for people who really want to see Disney World just once?

I could see the actual traveler wearing a special hat with cameras and microphone connected to his or her portable device streaming data back to the Cyber traveler so that they may interact with the traveler and be at the venue in real time. Imagine if you could sell this idea to people who want to go see a concert but due to health issues cannot get out of their home?

The idea of Cyber Tourism is the next big thing that comes to mind. What if you could tour the Grand Canyon with a child from "Make A Wish" riding electronically on your shoulder? That one event could make a real difference in that Child's life. As a make a wish volunteer I know from experience how hard it is to get a family to a specific destination if the child is not able to travel easily, and a Cyber based travel system would be ideal for many kids who want to see the world in a short time.

What if my next Make A Wish child wanted to run with the bulls in Pamplona Spain? I could strap on my interactive video and audio gear and take him or her right into the center of that white hot action! Imagine the incredible new world that could be opened up for people all over who cannot afford to get away and see faraway and exotic lands. The sky is truly the limit where you could take people up in an airplane and sky-dive, or better yet ride the space shuttle!

Imagine being able to take your grandmother to Egypt so she can see the pyramids and tombs. That would be amazing to so many people who dream of seeing these places yet cannot physically go there.

I have thought up stranger ideas than this, but it would be really something if there was a way to make this happen. So maybe Richard Branson has some money he would like to invest in this idea? It would be a perfect match for the Virgin family of businesses. So Mr. Branson when you read this, please contact me!

Source:
This article is a product of my imagination and is based on personal experience with Technology based "cyber things" and the Internet.

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