Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi)have partnered up with Malaysia Airports and Panorama Langkawi to launch Malaysia’s first real-time virtual tourism experience powered by 5G tech in Langkawi International Airport.
A cable car gondola and a virtual reality (VR) experiential zone set up at the Langkawi International Airport (IATA Code: LGK) allow visitors to enjoy a 360-degree view of Gunung Machinchang, live-streamed from 20 kilometres away via a camera mounted at the Langkawi SkyCab middle station, where the world’s steepest cable car ride takes one 708m above sea level.

Thanks to 5G’s ability to deliver fast, reliable, and low latency connectivity, visitors can admire the scenes with no lag or delay, in real time, and in ultra-high definition. The experience is open to the public until March 2020. It’s projected to provide a new immersive travel experience for tourists, and further the tourism industry in the nation.

This project is part of Digi’s use case in the 5G Demonstration Projects undertaken by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to help facilitate, develop and foster 5G use cases in a live, but controlled environment.

Digi Chief Executive Officer, Albern Murty highlights that the Langkawi 5G virtual tourism pilot is in line with Digi’s collaborative approach in building 5G ecosystem alongside partners, as well as corresponds with Visit Malaysia 2020.

“We are excited at the possibilities of 5G bringing next-gen virtual tourism to many other local destinations and connect more people to experiences that matter most to them. In partnership with Malaysia Airports and Panorama, we are pleased to bring a piece of Langkawi’s heritage to tourists from the moment they arrive at the airport. This is just the start – we are continuously learning and improving our use cases with our partners, and studying the commercial feasibility and scalability as we progress during this 5GDP trial period,” Albern adds.