An interactive cultural metaverse that expands reality through technology, a new alternative to the travel and tourism industry

The metaverse concept is spreading throughout the industry. Among the industries in which metaverse technology has melted, the place where virtual reality exerts the greatest influence is by far the field of travel and tourism. Metabus is opening a new era of tourism by combining it with the tourism business. Travel is no longer far away. Through metabus tourism, anyone can experience famous tourist attractions and landmarks in the region anytime, anywhere and implemented in virtual space.

‘Enjoy Street’ presenting a new travel trend

VREDU is a service platform company that was born with the mission to apply and expand virtual reality-based educational contents (EDUcation) to various industries. Sean Kim, CEO, worked in the IT industry for 20 years, encountered various technologies in various countries, and most of all, realized the power of culture. He felt the need to fuse core technologies of the 4th industrial revolution, such as artificial intelligence and big data, with cultural content. Deciding to start a business right away, he began research and development with the goal of providing a service where everyone who participates in content can experience fun education.
“While a variety of solutions using ICT technology are pouring in, I believe that the core of technology should be efficiency and fit for the purpose of the user. No matter how good a technology is developed, it becomes useless if users are not satisfied or do not use it continuously. Interesting educational content was my answer to the question that continuous use should be made while meeting the purpose of all stakeholders, including users, consumers, and managers. In order to understand each other and to pursue constant knowledge and enjoyment, I hope that everyone’s lives will be filled with culture and education.”
The first service platform where CEO Kim and VR Edu’s concerns and aspirations are condensed is ‘Enjoy Street’. Enjoy Street is a new travel trend in the new normal era proposed by VRedu, which provides a special travel experience by converging real-time video streaming based on WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) and live commerce technology. Travelers can experience the streets of Korea anytime, anywhere, and can refer to customized travel content recommended by big data analysis technology. Live commerce technology is linked, so you can enjoy shopping along with sightseeing. In addition, the company has established an environment where various experts can coexist by linking excellent domestic tour guides with small businesses and SMEs in all processes. In other words, Joy Street presents a new model for post-COVID-19 travel through a win-win model that connects consumers, content providers (guides), and product sellers (small business owners) and convergence technologies based on core technologies of the 4th industry. It is a virtual travel platform.
After launching the service in the Japanese market and receiving a positive response, Enjoy Street is expanding its service to Korea and Asia, providing more diverse content. Expectations for VR Edu are also high. It is supported by the Ministry of Small and Medium Business Venture Business Export Voucher Project and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency’s Metaverse Contents Global Expansion Competency Enhancement Project, and was selected as a growth tourism venture company by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization. VR Edu, starting with the travel service Enjoy Street, is advancing into various industries, such as the XR platform used for industrial field education, and is moving towards the goal of being reborn as a world-class metabus amusement park.

Metabus tourism that will change the travel experience

As the number of users visiting Korea’s tourist attractions increases through the Metaverse, related movements are also active, such as collaboration between the Korea Tourism Organization and local governments in preparation for this. The concerns and efforts of related ministries for service development, such as the change from technology development-oriented support to support that connects development and commercialization, are of great help to innovative companies that utilize Metaverse technology, including VRedu. On the other hand, there are still areas that need to be resolved, such as manpower problems and operational funding. Since the metabus utilization project is a comprehensive technology project in which various fields cooperate comprehensively, it requires talents in various fields with expertise. However, at present, small innovative companies are frustrated at the development and commercialization stage because they cannot secure talent, and there is a mismatch phenomenon in which employed people cannot find suitable jobs. This is because there are many cases where people who want to get a job do not recognize the convergence of their major and the metabus service, so mismatches between consumers and suppliers often occur. In addition, the difficulty of raising funds due to the global economic crisis that hit from last year to this year is also a factor that adds to the company’s burden. Even companies that are running on the existing growth path, including companies that have endured the COVID-19 period with difficulty these days, which is called the investment cold season, are in a difficult situation to raise additional funds. VR Edu also encountered a wall of funding at an important point in promoting full-fledged service activation, even though it had an opportunity to launch the service. CEO Kim Jae-heon emphasizes the need for job training and customized industrial-educational cooperation promotion measures with undergraduate and graduate schools to overcome this. In addition, the company is also seeking breakthroughs by seeking collaboration with domestic and foreign local governments and institutions. Even if you fall nine times, you knock ten times, and you want to create a successful model for specific local governments and institutions at home and abroad.
“I want to contribute to making a better world by constantly learning and studying. It’s not an easy goal, but I’m working hard with the belief that if I set a good precedent, I can give opportunities and courage to people not only in Korea but also abroad. I plan to challenge and challenge again so that VR Edu and I can do the work that someone else should take the lead.”
Moving forward as a company that discovers new values
The 4th Industrial Revolution and the strong change of Corona have led to changes in people’s thoughts and behaviors beyond simple industries. In this trend, VR Edu CEO Kim Jae-heon paid attention to the change in the relationship between online and offline, in other words, virtual and real. It was discovered that the two fields can change from the existing dichotomous viewpoint to the viewpoint of a driving force that expands mutual domains, and can become a cooperative relationship that creates new value rather than competition. Among them, he chose ‘tourism’ as the field with the greatest synergy created by the fusion of virtual and real. After COVID-19, the age gap in digital friendliness is rapidly narrowing, the online use of older age groups is increasing within a series of tourism activities, and the need for tourism products in the form of guided tours and convergence is increasing. Factors also contributed to the judgment.

“Tourism is an expensive experience. The time, financial, and psychological costs from selecting a destination, making plans, and leaving to the moment of returning are significant. The metabus that combines online and offline can complement the characteristics of existing tourism, such as low cost, time usefulness, and low psychological burden. Online and offline convergence tourism also plays a role in sustaining the impression of tourism. Travel is a cyclical experience where the beginning and end are repeated in that the moment of travel is recreated when you sensibly re-experience the scenery seen at the destination, and the beginning and end cannot be determined. In this process, convergence tourism can last a long time and add new shapes and colors.”

Another distinctive feature of Enjoy Street is that it has built a system where anyone can become a guide. Ordinary members can earn income by introducing their travel content domestically and internationally if they pass certain criteria, and those who have a tour guide guide license, which is a nationally recognized qualification, can sell travel-related content online and offline. Of course, as much as anyone can be a guide, I also wrote a child for the quality of the content. Typically, the difference is made by setting a level, but each time the level is raised, conditions such as the number of contents, completion of training, and certification must be met. General members must pass 8 hours of online training and a predetermined test provided by the MR (Mixed Reality)-based education platform developed and operated by VRedu. Virtual Travel System) license is issued to qualify for online content sales. A system where everyone can become a guide leads to diverse and high-quality content, and the diversity of content and vivid stories are receiving positive reviews from actual users.

VR Edu launched Enjoy Street in 2022 and has just taken steps towards its goal of realizing an expanded reality that connects the world through tourism. This year, a full-fledged business year, we are focusing on securing guides to provide content for Japanese users in order to increase brand awareness in Japan, which was our first market. We plan to promote our brand and service in Korea by improving the capabilities of each business sector through this. In addition, together with the Korea Electronics Technology Research Institute (KETI), we have successfully carried out smart city projects aimed at developing safer and more creative cities by presenting and analyzing numerous city data in real time and smart water projects, a real-time water resource analysis platform. Based on this experience, we plan to introduce various services that can contribute to the revitalization of the local economy by promoting it domestically and abroad. In order to expand the definition of tourism through technology, lead the digital transformation of tourism, lower barriers between people, and become a company that seeks out new values, VRedu constantly seeks to discover and expand areas of challenge. .

From a small playground to a global amusement park
VRedu is working hard to realize a tourism metabus based on the five core values shared among members. As Enjoy Street is a multinational service and consists of members from various backgrounds, diversity is the most important value of the company. This is because understanding the characteristics of oneself and others is essential not only for internal business but also for understanding the users of the company’s services. Orientation for internal growth is also an important factor. In addition, I love to ask questions, achieve it together, and find joy in my work.
Finding is the driving force and fundamental value that drives the company forward.

“I believe that the social relationships given to individuals are the driving force behind everything. Just like the people who trust and support me make me move. In addition to social relationships, you also need certainty and confidence in yourself. By repeating the process of believing in the values you set and executing them, you can enjoy challenges without getting frustrated in the face of failure. Of course, meaningful success is shared with the people around you.”

Sean Kim, CEO, is creating a special company culture by calling the company a playground with the idea that in order for fun education to be possible, people who make service platforms must work happily. We hope that executives and staff members can freely enjoy the various rides in the playground called VR Edu, and we are supporting it to be a playground where everyone can work with the mindset of playing together. CEO Kim wants to present the playground of his childhood, which was filled with only good things such as joy, friendship, and dreams, to many people. Although it is a small playground now, we look forward to the happy times we will spend at VR Edu, which is reborn as a world-class amusement park and is filled with various joys, shining friendships, and big dreams.