Embark on an AR tour of Singapore's hidden spots with Google and STB

Tech giant Google and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is creating an augmented reality (AR) guided tour of Singapore's landmarks and best hidden secrets. 

Titled "Merli's Immersive Adventure", the AR tour kicks off the 2024 travel season and makes it easier for travellers to discover new sights and understand Singapore through immersive storytelling.

Merli, STB's tourism mascot, will guide travellers through six stops in Singapore's Civic District and Chinatown where tourists and residents alike can explore and learn more about the areas. 

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Some of the stops include Fullerton Hotel - what was once Singapore's first-ever post office - where travellers can send a virtual postcard to their friends or family and the Great Emporium stop where they can learn the significance of the Singapore River while marvel at a life-sized bumboat brought to life in AR. 

"Merli's Immersive Adventure" also takes travellers to hidden spots such as the Peranakan Tile Gallery, a local Chinatown business that sells tiles salvaged from demolished shophouses, and Maxwell Food Centre where the interactive AR map will recommend must-try hawker dishes. 

This tour is powered by Google's ARCore and Geospatial Creator and is accessible via the "Visit Singapore Travel Guide" app. 

It also marks Google's first tourism partner in the tech giant's ARCore Early Access Program where developers, teams and brands around the world can play and build with Google's AR tools and solutions. 

"STB actively looks for possible tourism use cases in emerging technologies such as Extended Reality (XR),” says Simon Ang, the STB director for The Collaboratory.

“We’ll always be open to piloting new technologies to create novel experiences for visitors and are excited to be working with Google to pioneer this movement.”

"Merli's Life Adventure" is just one of many diverse efforts by STB to attract tourists to the Little Red Dot. Recently, STB partnered with digital payment platform, Alipay+, and eWallet company, TNG Digital, topromote travel in Singapore among Malaysian visitors.

The partnership will offer Malaysian travellers curated deals for their next holiday in Singapore, along with more cashless payment options and a range of in-destination promotions.

Malaysian users of TNG Digital’s Touch ‘n Go eWallet, which is a payment partner of the Alipay+ ecosystem, will be able to use it to book flights and purchase travel insurance prior to their trips.

As more promotions get rolled out in the coming months, users will also be able to pay and redeem deals through the eWallet across lifestyle merchants in Singapore, including retail stores, tourist attractions, and restaurants.

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