“Metaverse” or “Saturday in the Village”?
Have you ever noticed that when you are organising a trip, various images start to flash in your head regarding all the places you will visit and all the experiences you will have once you leave?
Every time we organise a trip, we experience that feeling that makes us feel great, because we know that thanks to those experiences, we will leave our routine and dive in an unusual and fascinating environment, full of surprises and expectations.
Desire, expectation, experience.
Just as Giacomo Leopardi wrote in his poem “Saturday in the village”, Saturday (the waiting) is always the most pleasant day.
These three steps characterise each of our journeys, making them a special and unique experience.
We begin to fantasise about what our holiday will be like, about the hotel we have booked, about the destination we have chosen, about the food we will taste and about how the people we’ll meet will be like.
Waiting is a sensation that makes us impatient, in a positive way: we start counting the days until our departure and the closer that day gets, the more the adrenaline rises, making us feel alive and full of emotions. As the days go by, we start preparing everything we need, thinking about the places we will visit and about the itinerary.
We start thinking about what our room will look like and whether it will actually reflect the photos we saw when we booked.
Now, imagine booking a holiday and being able to preview some of the experiences that await you, while you are still in the booking process.
Imagine being able to book a hotel and to take a virtual tour with your personalised avatar. Doing so, you will already have an idea of its structure, its furnishings and the spaces inside. Imagine, for example, walking through the Amazon rainforest and being fascinated by its biodiversity. Imagine walking through the streets of Manhattan at night and being able to admire the city illuminated by the lights of its skyscrapers.
Imagine being able to do all this virtually.
When the day of departure arrives, thanks to the Metaverse we already have an idea of what the facilities, shops, restaurants and all the streets in that destination will be like.
Of course, this wait might help you make a better choice of location, accommodation, services and many other aspects of your trip but, at the same time, you would risk cancelling that wait.
Would you rather prefer to experience the WOW factor (the thrill of surprise) or the prelude to the Metaverse?