*by Lina Giannakou
Rentable houses that function like an e-shop. Virtual tours, as well as digital representation of travel experiences. Welcome to the world of ‘phygital.’
An apartment for short-term rental that also functions as an… exhibition space for furniture, decoration items, and household goods, all on a platform that attracts millions of visitors daily. The digital reality offers countless showrooms for presenting products, which anyone can purchase from anywhere!
On Loudia Street, an alley perpendicular to Kifisias Avenue near Ampelokipi, on the 5th floor of a building from the past, lies an apartment with a view to the future. In this small apartment, offered for short-term rental through a platform, the tenant can enjoy a unique accommodation experience. If they like any of the furniture, tables, mattresses, pillows, clothing items, or decorations, they can connect to the digital version of the apartment and purchase them with just one or two clicks. Welcome to the first phygital (from the fusion of physical and digital) Airbnb in Athens.
This is the collaboration between the travel services company CloudKeys and Pennie.gr. ‘The idea started during Covid,’ says Dora Pavlidou, founder of CloudKeys. ‘With everything closed and no income coming in, we were thinking of ways to generate income in the existing conditions and how we would survive if something like this were to happen again.’ Often, visitors would ask where they could find a piece of furniture or decoration they saw in their apartments. ‘I realized they wanted to ask about more things but didn’t want to waste our time or theirs. That’s how we thought of creating showrooms in real apartments where you can live normally and try out products in real everyday conditions. Everything fell into place, and an enhanced accommodation experience is now available!’ Today, two such apartments are available for rent—or rather, four, since there is also their digital reflection—where one can virtually tour and shop at any time.
Furniture and items seen by prospective tenants on a short-term rental property website are available for sale!
The company’s plans include allowing guests to soon purchase digital or real experiences. ‘In the same way,’ as Mrs. Pavlidou mentions, ‘another property could showcase works by local artists.’ The technology existed—virtual tours are now offered by many hotels in Greece—but CloudKeys found a way to turn it into profits. It’s not obvious. In the wonderful new world of virtual reality, monetization remains the biggest challenge.
The staff at Moptil also faced difficulty incorporating their award-winning DIGIPAST application into hotels, which, using VR, AR, and AI technologies, offers high-quality digital tours of 10 archaeological sites in Greece. ‘Ultimately, we found a way and have already implemented it at the Grand Hyatt and Acropolis Select hotels,’ says Michalis Kokkinos, founder and CEO of Moptil. ‘We gave them special QR codes which the customer can scan and be redirected to the App Store or Play Store to download our application. Through a technology that allows affiliation, we can see from which hotel the purchase was made and thus provide commission. We have even agreed with the hotels to give the amount to the people working at the reception. We want to do the same with Airbnb.
I located Michalis Kokkinos while he was attending the 9th Our Ocean International Conference, where the issue of climate change was extensively discussed and how it will affect all aspects of our lives. Of course, including archaeological sites. “We don’t realize it, but there is no more direct way to preserve a monument than its 3D representation. It has a direct relationship with its preservation.” A recent UNESCO report and the Acropolis emphasized the usefulness of new digital tools in developing a management plan for increased flows. One such tool is COSMOTE CHRONOS developed by Moptil in collaboration with Cosmote for the Ministry of Culture, through which visitors can admire the monument as it was in antiquity. “When you want to raise awareness about monument protection, there is no better way.” Already, the app, which will soon be expanded, has been downloaded by 350,000 users. “I can’t forget that when it was advertised, 25,000 people for half an hour were virtually seeing the sanctuary of Artemis, which is not preserved, and learning information about it.” Parallel worlds, parallel realities, reflecting on each other.
Everything around us is changing. The way we buy, consume, travel, gain experiences. Stelios Ioannidis, a researcher at the University of the Aegean, has completed the first doctoral dissertation in Greece on how the use of the metaverse will change the tourism industry. “At the moment, the metaverse is in pieces. It’s exactly what happened with the advent of the internet in 2000 when only a few very large companies had websites. When you told a professional to advertise online, they would say I have pamphlets, and my phone number. We all saw the change the internet brought, something similar will happen with the metaverse. It will replace websites. Already, some very large companies like Nike and Starbucks have created some pilot virtual environments for some of their stores. But the big challenge is interoperability, to be able to navigate from one metaverse to another.” “The issue with new technologies is their functionality,” says Philippos Arvanitakis, creative director and founding member of the award-winning extended reality (XR) studio South North based in Gothenburg. “In the 25 years I’ve been in the field, promotion and technology are advancing much faster than we can absorb. We have the ability to do many things, but they don’t have a counterpart in the real world.”
Until now, one could only imagine what an archaeological site looked like at its peak. With digital applications, not only can one see it with their own eyes, but they can even navigate among the monuments!
Recently, South North Studio created a metaverse on behalf of a bank, a fictional city with a main commercial street where the bank’s store was located. “They told us it’s amazing, but it doesn’t suit us since they found out that in reality, no one has VR headsets. So we adapted it and it works online within the bank’s website.” According to him, the cost-production equation compared to monetization capabilities still shows negative numbers. “When VR headsets are cheap enough to be in every home, then the picture will change.”
Binazi Science is one of the few in Greece who have purchased VR headsets, virtual reality glasses. “The reason was exercise, but I ended up traveling all over the world. I downloaded the interactive application from National Geographic which allowed me to travel in space and time. I went to Machu Picchu with a camera, and at one moment I was in the ruins of the Inca houses and the next moment I returned to that era, lying on their weavings and staring at the skulls of their ancestors which adorned their rooms.” With another training program, she was running in San Francisco alongside the avatars of other athletes. “These are experienced experiences. They are not lies. I feel like I’ve already been to Peru today. What I learned about it this way, I couldn’t learn from any documentary. It’s like a dream you don’t remember well, but you can return to whenever you want.”
Stelios Ioannidis, a researcher at the University of the Aegean, has completed the first doctoral dissertation in Greece on how the use of the metaverse will change the tourism industry. Based on his research, in the future:
- Tourists will be able to digitally explore destinations before making their final vacation choices, without relying on advertising, reviews, or photos.
- They will be able to navigate through hotel spaces, meet staff, and precisely check the room before making any reservations.
- They can digitally participate in proposed activities at the destination to decide if they meet their expectations and if they are worth the time and money they will spend.
- Tourists will be able to significantly reduce waiting times at airports and hotels using NFTs (non-fungible tokens), as the use automatically verifies the owners’ information. “So a unique NFT can serve as the plane ticket, passport, room key, and payment for all of these.”
- Personal data will be ensured without random (or even deliberate) leaks of personal information for the purpose of commerce.
- The experience during participation in activities will be enhanced, with simultaneous use of augmented reality elements and real-time information for the user.
- Photos/videos of landscapes, moments, people, and experiences will be captured, and there will be the possibility of their return to the metaverse. “The avatar enters and relives the memories, not just seeing them.”
“The experience is very intense because the colors are more vivid,” says Science. “You take off the glasses and feel like the environment has faded. I’ve caught myself not wanting to go out because I’m wearing the glasses.”
