Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets showcase South Africa’s attractions

A short film on Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets is being used by South African Tourism to encourage travel to the country.

A short film on Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets is being used by South African Tourism to encourage travel to the country.

The ‘five-minute holiday’ allows viewers to look around the virtual world just as they would in real life through the use of 360-degree head tracking.

The film includes abseiling down Table Mountain in Cape Town, kite surfing, para-gliding and feeding elephants.

A shark cage-diving scene off Cape Town required the footage to be shot underwater, using a specially 3D-printed underwater camera rig.

A competition to win KLM flights to South Africa from Heathrow or Manchester will run alongside the promotion

The film is being shown to consumers in bars in London and Manchester.

The first bar takeover is on April 24 at Corbet Place, Brick Lane, London, followed by NoHo, in Manchester.

Further dates will be announced over SAT’s Twitter and Facebook channels.

The campaign starts a year of consumer activity from SAT, with further initiatives being introduced in the summer and run-up to Christmas.

SAT UK marketing and communications manager Juan Herrada said: “We want to surprise the UK travelling public and Oculus Rift is the ideal partner for us to reach a young, tech-savvy market.

“This is the first time Oculus Rift and binaural sound have been combined to create a unique, immersive holiday experience for the UK public.”