A 3D Geo-Spatial Virtual Reality System for Virtual Tourism

The effective management and promotion of tourism can increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any country significantly. This paper presents the design of a simplified and generic architecture of a 3-Dimension (3D) model virtual walk-through for tourist centers and historical heritages. We believe that this model could be adapted for its implementation in any state or country. The countries of the world are replete with numerous attractive and historical tourist sites. Many of such places are barely visited and explored because they have not been given enough publicity to draw people to those sites. This model provides platform to overcome these drawbacks by providing easy access and virtual exploration of these tourist sites. We envisage that the system will both promote these sites and also help to preserve the historical heritages of the people in such communities. The architecture is an integration of Virtual Reality System (VRS), Geographical Information System (GIS), and dynamic web technologies. The proposed architecture was implemented using tourist sites in Osun State, Nigeria as a case study. This paper further highlights vital issues relating to its implementation and challenges. (