Sneaking in a Little Culture Amidst the Marketing in Las Vegas using Augmented Realty Apps

AR has lots of benefits, such as portability, interactivity, and personalization. But an under appreciated feature is that it can be a stealth contributor to cultural literacy while it pushes a marketing agenda. By including the arts and other cultural offerings and previews in the line-up of “attractions,” AR has the potential to increase awareness about the fine arts. By including accessible information about artists, musicians, and performances, AR can demystify, humanize, and normalize appreciation for the fine arts into a Main Street rather than Park Avenue experience.

In the world of “money is no object” and “larger than life,” who better to engage the use of augmented reality to show people around town than Las Vegas? The MGM Mirage properties has launched Vegas’ first AR iPhone apps available through, you guessed it, iTunes. This is just a taste of things to come for the hospitality industry sectors willing to make the investment in creativity and innovation. Well-designed AR is the most effective way to bridge the gap between information gathering for specific goals (like vacation planning) and information gathering for entertainment and education that has value independent of goal-specific behavior. The line-up includes “Resort Apps:’ resort-specific apps for Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand and New York-New York, “Entertainment of Las Vegas:” an entertainment app with access to video previews and pertinent information like times and ticket sales at 10 resorts, and “Vegas Reality:” that links the iPhone and GPS services to allow you to interact with attractions on the strip, monitor late-breaking hot spots and trends via Twitter, and higher-brow offerings such as the CityCenter’s public Art Collection including artist bios and information about their work. Vegas Reality encapsulates the real value of AR; it exposes the user to different types of information, including things that might not have been something they’d would know about or consider finding. (Like the art collection. Who knew that Swedish sculptor Claes Oldenburg was on display in Vegas?)