5G Augmented Tourism Pilot

Imagine being in Barcelona, Spain for the first time and stepping onto a tour bus that will take you around to see the most popular tourist attractions the city has to offer. Instead of a tour guide, or an audio headset, you find yourself sitting on the upper section of a double decker bus strategically placed at the front window. However, this window is equipped with a large Augmented Reality (AR) touch screen display where digital content appears. As you ride through the city you touch the screen as you approach different landmarks. Perhaps the bus approaches a government building, so you touch the screen and see an architectural overlay appear displaying the details of the structure’s history, materials, and architect. As your progress through the city you continue to explore monuments, theatres, and an Olympic stadium.

The previous description was an actual collaboration between the local telecom Telefonica, Mediapro Group, and Transports Metropolitans de Barcelona (TMB) that was recently unveiled (Low, J., 2020, April 1). This joint effort made the immersive experience possible for the passengers on the Barcelona tour bus. 5G mobile networks allow real-time streaming of geolocated content associated to the locations along the tourist route (Telefonica, 2020, March 4). Augmented content is displayed onto a transparent interactive screen located on the front window of the vehicle, allowing rich and interactive multimedia content to be superimposed on the reality seen through the glass (Telefonica, 2020, March 4). The Director of IMDEA Networks Institute in Madrid, Dr. Arturo Azcorra states, “5G networks will transform tourism by giving us almost unlimited real-

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Low, J. (2020, April 1). How 5G could help reignite the tourism industry next year. Retrieved from http://techhq.com/2020/04/how-5g-could-help-reignite-the- tourism-industry-next-year/

Telefonica (2020, March 4). Mediapro, Telefonica and TMB to develop the first augmented reality project over 5G on tourist buses. Retrieved fromhttps://www.telefonica.com/en/web/press-office/-/mediapro-telefonica-and-tmb- to-develop-the-first-augmented-reality-project-over-5g-on-tourist-buses