Marriott Hotels is betting the future of travel will be, at least in part, virtual. The hotel brand is rolling out Oculus Rift technology at select hotel locations to enable guests to virtually explore the black sand beaches of Hawaii or the city of London. But to make the experience more immersive, Marriott is taking things one step further by adding in sensory elements such as heat, wind and mist. The program works like this: A person stands in a phone-booth like structure dubbed the Teleporter, puts on the Oculus Rift virtual headset and wireless headphones, and is then "teleported" to the destination. The Teleporter has built in 4-D technology that makes it so the user physically feels different parts of the environment, such as temperature and moisture. In June, Second Life CEO Philip Rosedale said at the Singularity Finance Conference that it won't be too long before people actually purchase virtual reality (VR) property so that they can visit it anytime they want.
IN-DEPTH
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SOCIAL
--- Cadie Thompson, CNBC