DOT goes high-tech with AR
MANILA, Philippines — Travelers can now enjoy a more sophisticated approach to the country’s tourist destinations through a mobile application that the Department of Tourism (DOT) and a school based in Makati that specializes in technology developed.
The two entities created “Experience Philippines,” an application that uses augmented reality (AR) wherein tourists can get information and visuals on certain tourist sites, the DOT announced earlier this week.
AR, which uses computer-generated images, is used to provide a better view of the said images.
The application’s AR feature currently works on the DOT logo and on some sites in the historic Intramuros in Manila, including the Gallery of Presidents, the Fort Santiago gate, the Ayutamiento, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church and the sites of some churches previously based in the area.
The Intramuros Administration (IA), under the DOT, hopes the mobile application would attract more tourists to Intramuros, as “they will be able to see how Fort Santiago and other historical sites looked like before,” said IA chief Guiller Asido.
The application is a way of promoting sustainable tourism, said Raquel Wong, chief operating officer of iAcademy which developed the app, as “it does not require mass print production.”
“With the Experience Philippines app, tourists can relive the past of Intramuros with just a tap on their mobile phone screens,” DOT secretary Bernadette Romulo- Puyat said in a statement.
She hoped the AR feature could also be applied to other tourist destinations in the country, wherein visuals and other information would be provided with just a tap.
