The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Google will be expanding on its partnership to create more Augmented Reality (AR) experiences, which will be directly available on Google Maps for the first time.
This announcement was made during Google I/O 2024, the tech company’s annual developer conference, held on May 14.
STB is one of two institutions globally to join a pilot programme that will bring immersive AR experiences in Singapore directly into Google Maps later this summer.
This partnership builds upon the success of Merli’s Immersive Adventure – an innovative AR tour to six stops around Singapore through STB’s Visit Singapore Travel Guide app launched in January this year.
As part of this pilot, STB will continue to use Google’s ARCore and Geospatial Creator to develop new location-based AR experiences. Unlike before when STB’s AR experiences were made available only on its travel app, these new AR experiences can soon be discovered and enjoyed entirely within the Google Maps mobile app.
Moreover, STB has also onboarded over a dozen other tourism stakeholders in Singapore to join the pilot, who themselves will also develop location-based AR experiences. These stakeholders include retail malls along Singapore’s Orchard Road shopping belt, local heritage businesses in Chinatown, and popular museums and attractions.
Together, there will be 30 places of interests with AR experiences, creating an immersive journey across key tourism precincts in Singapore, featuring places like Chinatown, the Supertree Grove at Gardens by the Bay, Sentosa Sensoryscape, and more.
With this expansion, the AR content will now be visible remotely via Street View on the Google Maps mobile app for a seamless and accessible experience regardless of location. Users near the landmarks can also discover the AR content on their mobile devices by scanning their surroundings using Lens in Maps, as it overlays the physical surroundings in the real world. This will be helpful for visitors planning their trips to Singapore, and navigating the island through AR tours when they are in the country.
STB plans to further grow the number of location-based AR experiences in Google Maps beyond 30, building on its goal of making Singapore the world’s first “AR City” in Google Maps.
Eric Lai, group product manager, AR, Google, said: “Through location-based AR experiences, we’re making it more intuitive for over a billion users to discover this iconic city in a way like never before. This is just the beginning of a journey that will reshape how we explore the world.”
Simon Ang, director, The Collaboratory, STB, said: “This pilot greatly benefits local businesses, who can leverage AR to tell different stories over the same spaces, and have their content discoverable and accessible on Google Maps. It also benefits travellers as it aids their discovery of new places of interest, and enriches them with a deeper understanding of Singapore’s rich history and culture through interactive storytelling.”
