Virtual Reality Tours at Ellen Degeneres Campus.

Virtual Reality Tours at Ellen Degeneres Campus; In today’s world virtual reality is playing a major role in most sectors. The Tourism sector has also adapted to create immersive virtual reality tours for tourists.

The Ellen Campus that was opened in 2022 next to Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park which is home to the magnificent mountain gorillas. In addition to honoring Dian Fossey’s legacy where she played a major role in conservation of mountain gorillas, this top-notch research and educational facility advances the goal of preventing the extinction of gorillas through the Dian Fossey fund that has been in existence for over 50 years.

This magnificent place has 360 degree threatre where you can immerse yourself and watch the daily activities of the mountain gorillas as they wake up from their nests, embark on their daily activities like feeding, resting, playing, silver backs protecting their territories and virtual reality headsets where you immerse yourself in a virtual tour in the jungle providing you with experiences that you can relate to when you involve yourself in the actual gorilla trekking activity.

What is Virtual Reality Tours?

Virtual reality involves participatory visuals or movies that let the viewer explore a scene in all 360 degrees as it captures every aspect of a site, in contrast to traditional video which is taken from a fixed viewpoint. Virtual reality has the potential to capture tourist places in a distinctive and immersive manner in the travel sector. Specialized cameras, setups, and software are used to do this. The final product may then be seen on a standard computer, mobile device, or VR headset.

360 Degrees Virtual Reality at Ellen Degeneres.

Many people associate virtual reality (VR) with computer-generated imagery (CGI), which is how the game industry uses it. 360 VR, or 360VR video, is an alternative type of virtual reality.
Instead of using computer-generated images, 360 VR concentrates on the actual world. Because of this, it is ideal for the tourist sector, where it is crucial to present consumers with an actual environment rather than a simulation or facsimile.

At Ellen DeGeneres campus there is a 360 degrees threatre called the Irmelin DiCaprio Theater. The theater is intended to screen superpanoramic movies and is the biggest 360-degree theater in Africa and it was named in honor of Leonardo DiCaprio’s mother who is Irmelin DiCaprio and was funded to promote conservation efforts by the foundations of both DiCaprio and Ellen DeGeneres.

In order to inform and involve guests in conservation without endangering the gorillas’ natural habitat, the theater features the Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery, where guests may see an immersive forest video, see gorgeous gorilla footage gorillas as they embark on their daily activities like feeding, resting, playing, silver backs protecting their territories, and discover the history of mountain gorilla conservation initiatives from Dian Fossey’s era to the present. This makes tourists to develop the spirit of conservation as they see the advantages of conserving mountain gorillas.

Virtual Reality Headsets at Ellen Degeneres Campus.

The most realistic virtual reality travel experience is usually offered by Virtual Reality headsets. A Virtual Reality headset records the user’s head movements using specialized software. It enables the user to investigate the trip destination as they would feel it in real life.

The Ellen DeGeneres campus has virtual reality headsets that are virtual reality exhibits called the Gorilla Trek created that was developed by Immotion which is located inside Cindy Broder Conservation Gallery. It provides immersive videos that offer a tour into the gorilla habitats you can watch the mountain gorillas feed, rest, silver backs protect their territories, mountain gorillas deciding to form their only family this looks like real experience of the gorilla trek.

Inherent Importance of Virtual Reality at Ellen Degeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Fund.

Virtual reality has tons of importance at Ellen DeGeneres campus as mentioned below;

  1. Gorilla trekking tours for children. It enables children to explore the gorilla trekking experience. The virtiual reality headsets provides the real experience of gorilla trekking allowing children below 15 years to have an immersion into the gorilla trekking experience physically as they are able to see and feel the mountain as they feed, play and socialize.
  1. Gorilla trekking experiences for those unable to trek. It offers an immersive experience for individuals who cannot trek due to age like those below 15 years, health ,physical who can’t afford stretchers sold rented at US$300 at Kinigi park headquarters to carry those who can’t trek, it also helps those with financial limits like those who can’t afford the gorilla trekking fees that is US$1500 and maybe they can afford the golden monkey fees that is US$100 so they can participate in the golden monkey trekking and also still have  a feel of gorilla trekking by involving themselves in the virtual tours.
  2. It prepares tourists for the gorilla trekking experience. The virtual tours provides tourists with the real feeling that they will have during the gorilla trekking hence preparing them as they are able to know what to expect to see in the gorilla trekking activity.
  1. Fostering conservation efforts: By building an emotional bond, these encounters can increase support for conservation and emphasize how crucial it is to save endangered mountain gorillas hence supporting the work of Dian Fossey in conserving the mountain gorillas.
  2. Encouraging actual gorilla tourism: Virtual tours can serve as a marketing tool to spark interest in real gorilla tourism whereby after having the virtual tours someone will make sure they work hard and look for money to pay for gorilla permits so that what they watched on virtual headsets or in the 360 degrees threater they can also see it in real life hence leading more people to visit national parks.